Don't Run Over Me
by kthxbai0.o
Summary: Who do you trust? Even your best friend can lie straight to your face. Would you trust her then? When the demi-gods aren't demi-gods, who goes where? Who is goth, a prep, a nerd, a jock? How can you just be a person, stuck in a category, with no way out? Annabeth can defy that, But can she stay where she wants to be? (The story gets better as it goes along...trust me?) PERCABETH!
1. Pushed Around

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters. They belong to Rick Riordan.**

**Pushed Around**

Annabeth Chase wandered around the crowded halls to her next class. The green and light blue lockers (the school colors) lined up against the crème colored walls. The wooden classroom doors swung open one at a time letting a new crowd of immature teens out at a time.

"Move it, loser." Annabeth felt herself get roughly bumped in the shoulder and fall to the ground, textbooks and papers flying out in different directions. She looked up from the hard brown marble floor in enough time to see a tall buff jock with a green jersey walk away laughing alongside his jock buddies.

"Get up." A tight voice commanded. Annabeth turned to see a girl with electric blue eyes and spiky black hair hold out her fishnet covered hand towards her. "I don't have all day." she sighed. Annabeth took her hand and pulled herself up. Her knees felt shaky and her hands burned from the fall.

She glanced at the stranger who had ever so kindly helped her. She noticed for the first time that she had a nose stud and three black earrings in one ear. She wore heavy black eyeliner and black mascara. She wore a tight black halter top and dark super skinny jeans.

She had on dark brown combat boots and fishnet gloves that went all the way up her forearm. Annabeth couldn't help but notice the lightning necklace tucked away under her shirt.

"I'm Thalia Grace." she stated through a wad of peppermint gum, "But you can call me Thales if you want. If you don't mind I would like to know who you are." Annabeth took a deep breath and bent down to pick up her books. "My name is Annabeth." Annabeth said, "Annabeth Chase."

She scrambled to get her algebra book that had been kicked by another student to the middle of the hall. She stood up, brushing her curly blonde hair out of her stormy grey eyes. "You usually get pushed around a lot?" Thalia inquired. Annabeth nodded and felt hot tears start to burn in her eyes.

Thalia patted her back. "And you just take it? Do you even care?" Annabeth sighed. People don't usually talk to her, the friendless, smart, loser with no social life and a bad rep. "I don't know if I even care at this point. I have been pushed around all my life."

Thalia looked into her eyes. "You doing anything tonight?" she asked. Annabeth nodded. "I have a family reunion tonight." Annabeth wanted to go over to Thalia's really bad but her mom would kill her if she ditched. Her step-mom, that is.

*~0~*

***At the reunion***

"Oh!" one of Annabeth fat step aunt cried. She ran towards Bobby and Matthew crushing them in a hug. Annabeth was surprised her boobs didn't suffocate them. "How are my Bobby-Boo and Matthew- Cat doing?" she asked them cheerfully. Her red leathery dress was way too tight, what size was she, a 48? Annabeth stood in the doorway, the cool evening air giving her goose bumps. She was about to walk in behind her mom and dad when the dark green door slammed in her face. She put her hands in her face for a few second and took a deep breath, standing up straight. Her red Hollister sweatshirt wasn't going to keep her warm forever in the chilly October air. She tried the doorknob.

Locked.

No doubt her rich aunt had planned this. With her fricken beehive brown hair and droopy-Annabeth stopped herself. She was about to ring the doorbell when she noticed the sign. 'Doorbell is broken' it said written in sloppy red pen, 'Try knocking'. She reached for the gold knocker, with lion designs, that was screwed into the heavy duty door but as soon as her fingers clasped it, it broke off.

Crap. If her step-mom didn't see her socializing she'd think Annabeth was acting bratty and she would hate her even more. Her whole family hated her. She wasn't blood related to anyone except her father's brothers who were probably all locked away in prison.

Annabeth began knocking on the door with her bare, chapped hands. No one heard her. She could see everyone drinking and chatting through the blurred windows. The broken knocker became cold in her hands.

She leaned her back against the door and sighed. Annabeth had been doing a lot of sighing lately. As she closed her eyes and began to relax the door opened. Annabeth felt herself fall backwards into the house. There she lay, sprawled on the entrance floor, broken knocker in hand.

**A/N: Oh, Oh, Oh! I have a super juicy Percy's point of view next! Maybe some Percabeth in the next chapter if you review! Please review to give ideas. I have one in mind but I don't want to continue if all you guys hate this first part. NOTE: THERE WILL BE PERCABETH AND ANOTHER SECRET COUPLE! R&R!**


	2. Rage

**Rage**

Percy smiled as the final bell rang. He jumped out of his plastic, hard seat and sprinted towards his locker. He remembered the first day of school as a junior when he was thrilled he got a blue locker since blue was his all time favorite color.

As he fumbled with his lock, his girlfriend, Rachel Dare, came up to him. _Shit._ He thought she walked up to him and covered his sea green eyes with her moisturized hands. "Guess who?" she cooed. Percy hated when people covered his eyes. He liked to know what was going on around him.

"I don't know." he said, "Is it my beautiful girlfriend?" Rachel spun him around and gave him a peck on the lips. The only reason he was dating her was because her dad was trying to get him into an amazing swim college.

"Doing anything today?" she asked. Percy finally got his combination right and yanked down the lock. "I have swim practice." he stated grabbing his blue backpack and stuffing it messily with textbooks and loose papers. Rachel's face fell. "Well," she droned, "Maybe you can skip one teeny weenie practice and we can catch a movie or something."

Percy frowned. He hated when she made up words like that, not that he'd say it to her face. "I really can't miss this Rach." he said, "There is a huge meet coming up this weekend and I need to practice."

"But you're the fastest on the team, Perce." Rachel gave him a pouty look, "Can't you miss a tittle wittle practice?" She hugged him, her curly red hair itching his nose. "Sorry." he said and disappeared through the halls.

Practice was the usual. Hot girls in skin-tight swim gear ogling Percy with no shirt on and Coach Paul accidentally falling in the pool. Percy, being the swim captain, took charge after that because Coach Paul hated walking around in wet clothes so he goes home.

Swim practice ended late. As Percy got in his blue Honda Grover Underwood, his best friend, came up to him. "Hey wanna hear a pencil joke?" Grover asked while his curly red afro bobbed. Percy immediately said sure. "Never mind," Grover said, "It's pointless! Hahaha! Get it?"

Percy cracked a smile and put his key in ignition. "Very funny, man." he chuckled as he drove off. He was halfway home when he saw a body lying in the middle of the road.

**Back to Annabeth**

Annabeth got up steadily, her annoyed relatives watching disapprovingly. Nobody offered to help her up. Nobody asked if she was okay. Nobody gave a shit. She turned to see who opened the door. It was her fat aunt of course; Annabeth didn't know her name but liked to call her Aunt Bullshit. "Oh." She said sourly, "I see you have finally come to join the party."

Annabeth glared at her. "Yeah, finally after you let me in!" she shouted with a surprising bit of rage. Aunt Bullshit looked unharmed. "What do you mean?" she asked innocently. "You know what I mean!" Annabeth continued, "You locked me out of the house!"

Aunt Bullshit simply shook her head. "You have a vivid imagination." she chuckled. Annabeth had it. She gripped the knocker and chucked it at her face. She didn't want to stick around for the rest so she ran to the back door, grabbing a shot of vodka before she left.

She pushed open the back door and ran outside. The wind was picking up and she almost fell. She walked down to the pool and took the shot. She didn't care that the people on the porch were staring at her. She walked over to the pool house and threw the shot glass at it.

The glass shattered into microscopic pieces. The people sitting on the porch now bustled inside. Annabeth never felt this angry at anyone before. She screamed and kicked the ground. The back door opened and she ran into the woods.

Tree branches smacked her face and thrones cut her hands. She stubbed her toe on a root and fell. She lied in the leaves for a minute, breathing deeply. She sat up and looked back at the mansion. Every light was on and she could see the shadows to people walk through the house.

She couldn't stand the sight of it any longer. She ran through the woods until she ended up on the street. She wanted to go home. NOW. She stumbled onto the street and started to cry. She had never cried so much in one day.

Just then, as if to prove her life sucked, a truck came rumbling down the street and shot up mud from the back tires. Annabeth looked down at herself, she was wet, covered in mud, and her face and hair probably looked like she rolled out of bed.

A gust of wind picked up and blew Annabeth onto the street. She toppled over and couldn't get up. She saw headlights and heard a screech. The last thing she saw was an attractive boy with wet black hair before she blacked out.

**Percy's POV**

As I was driving home from swim practice, I saw a body lying in the street. I pulled over and jumped out to help. She looked familiar before I realized. _Holy shit._ This was Annabeth Chase, the girl I have loved all my life.

**A/N: Liking the cliffy?**


	3. Don't Run Over Me

**Don't Run Over Me**

**Percy's POV**

I kneeled down beside Annabeth. She had a small cut on the side of her head and her hands were scraped up. She was wet and caked with mud. I picked her up bridal style and placed her in the backseat of my car. She was obviously unconscious.

I drove home quickly, talking to my mom on the phone as I went. My mom was a nurse and said she would look at her. I turned on the radio to pass the time. I listened as Hot Chelle Rae sang about partying.

When we got to my apartment I had to carry Annabeth up the stairs. I'm pretty strong, not trying to be rude, but my arms grew weaker as we moved up the stairs. Finally, at the top, I did something that surprised me. I kissed Annabeth.

Not a full make out, but a small peck on the lips. It was a good luck kiss. I told myself as I opened the door. I set her down on the sofa and sat on the recliner as my mom checked her out. I was relieved when my mom told me she was okay and just needed rest. I moved her to my bedroom, laying her softly on my bed and leaving her.

**Annabeth's POV**

I woke up looking at a blue ceiling. Where was I? I sat up but my head reeled and I had to lie back down. I observed the room from the bed. Blue walls, a dirty shag carpet, a small computer in the corner and clothes streaked across the room.

The room smelled lightly of cologne and fish. I then saw a fish tank behind the bed with two small goldfish swimming merrily about. I was about to get up and figure out where the hell I was when the door opened.

None other than Percy Jackson stood in the doorway. He grinned. "Feeling any better?" he asked. "I guess." I answered. He came and sat on the bed with me. "Do you remember what happened?" he inquired. I tried to think. I remembered the reunion, running away, and falling into the street. "Yeah," I answered, "I kind of got pissed at my aunt and started to walk home. But I guess I never made it."

Percy nodded and smiled. "You're okay, now." he reassured me, "My mom's a nurse and she says you don't have a concussion or need stitches." I felt my head. A large scab had formed and my hands were as red as hell.

I looked into his eyes and got caught. They were the prettiest things I had ever seen. They sparked and stared at me, but in a good way, a really good way. We leaned towards each other. The whole world seemed to be in slow motion.

Before I knew it we were kissing. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed back. I don't know how long it had been but soon the bedroom door flew open.

**Percy's POV**

I snapped my head up. A list of curse words ran through my head. Why was this happening? Rachel stood in the doorway, her face stuck in a shocked position. She was holding a plate of sugar cookies with orange frosting.

The plate clattered to the floor. Cookies flew everywhere. Rachel fumed. "You effing bitch!" she shouted at Annabeth. Annabeth's cheeks were bright pink and her eyes were wide. Rachel picked up a cookie and threw it at her. Annabeth hugged her knees to her chest.

"Get out Rachel." I said as calmly as I could. Rachel glared at me. "Are you breaking up with me?" she cried. Boy, was I glad my mom wasn't home. "Yep!" I shouted. "And by the way, you're clingy, annoying, unattractive, and I hate when you make up words!" I was so proud I told her about the word thing.

Rachel left, knocking over a lamp as she slammed the door to the apartment. I sat down next to Annabeth. "You okay?" I asked. I was never good at comforting people. Annabeth stood.

"No." she said firmly, "I most certainly not okay. My mom is dead, my entire family hates me, and now I just stole you, my crush since kindergarten, from a popular, mean, bitch. I am going to be in so much pain from her now. My family thinks I run away all the time because I did when I was five and now they will hate me even more because I did it again! I am in a freaking living hell!"

I sat, dumbfounded. Annabeth had a lot to go through. I never realized it before, maybe that's why she didn't want to stand out, because she could if she wanted to. She was afraid of everyone knowing what she had to go through. "I can help." I provided even though I didn't know how.

"It doesn't work that way. You're cool, I'm a loser." She cried, "The world is like a street. You are the high rank with the convertible and I am the loser with a tricycle. There are drunk drivers and rude jeeps that honk no matter what the hell you do. There are cross walks that all drivers don't pay attention to. And when a pedestrian needs to cross, they are going to get hit. So please_, please_, **don't run over me**."

And with that, she swiftly walked out the door.

**Rachel's POV**

After I stormed out of Percy's room I got in my red convertible and drove home. I knew he didn't mean the things he said so I brushed it off. In the back of my mind his words tugged on me; "And by the way, you're clingy, annoying, unattractive, and I hate when you make up words!" They swam through my head. When I got home, the words got to me. I needed revenge.

But what could I do? I didn't have any embarrassing dirt on him since he was closed tighter than a clam. And I had no clue what his locker or gym locker combo was. But then it hit me. It whacked me right between the eyes. I had his house key.

Knowing Percy, he probably had stuff written down everywhere since he was ever so forgetful. I raced up to my room and dialed Drew's number. _(The mean Aphrodite girl) _By this time all the tears from my blue eyes had left.

"Drew," I chimed into the phone, "I need revenge and have a plan. I want you to help me." Drew was silent. "What kind of plan?" she droned.

"A great one that involves sneaking into Percy's house and taking something for the whole school to see." I could almost imagine Drew smiling. "I'm in." she stated. "But here's a problem. We need Percy out of his house in just enough time for us to get what we need." I was confused.

"What are you saying?" I asked. "What I'm saying is that we need a distraction." I smiled evilly. "I have the perfect person in mind."

**A/N: Who could it be? I honestly don't know so please review who you think it should be! P.S. Spoiler alert but helpful if you want to review; the distraction will have to kiss Percy. It can be a boy.**


	4. Stolen

**Stolen**

**Percy's POV**

I went to bed early. I really loved Annabeth but I didn't know how to tell her without her freaking. I did a lot of pacing. Back and forth, back and forth. I swear I rubbed a hole in the toe of my sneaker from it.

Before I went to bed I sat in front of my house phone. _Maybe I should call her. _I thought. I picked up the phone and dialed. My thumb hung over the call button. _No. _I decided. This went on for several minutes until I pressed the call button.

"Hello?" a voice rang out from the other end of the line. "Um, h-hi." I stuttered. "Who is this?" the voice said. It sounded young, like a little boy. "Bob." I blurted and then hung up. _Wow, way to play it cool_. I thought.

**Annabeth's POV**

After I stormed out of Percy's room, I ran down the stairs. _We could never be together_. I was thinking. _He is super popular and I'm the freak who people laugh at behind my back._

I decided to take the bus home. As I stepped on, the grubby driver barked, "That will be two bucks." I fished around in my pockets, spending the last of my money.

The ride went fast and when the bus pulled up to the closest stop towards my house, I jumped off. I dreadfully entered my house, surprisingly; my parents and brothers were home. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the yelling and insults I would get but they didn't come. All I heard was a gentle voice.

"We missed you, Annabeth." It said. I opened my eyes. It was my dad. He gave me a hug and said he was glad I was okay. I glanced at the clock. It was late, I had passed out longer than I thought I had. The clock read 10:24.

I went to my bedroom and took a long hot shower, letting the warm water soothe my skin. When I washed I imagined scrubbing all the incidents and troubles of the day.

I scrubbed my knees, washing away the push in the hallway. My arms, the door problem at Aunt Bullshit's. My hands, throwing the glass. My face, the fall into the street. And when I washed my hair I pretended I was washing away all the bad memories of my sucky day.

After my shower, I walked downstairs. Matthew was hanging up the phone. "Who was that?" I asked curiously. "Bob." he replied and walked away.

**Rachel's POV**

I ended my call with Drew. I had a better, more important call to make. I flipped open my pink address book and turned to the S's. Stoll. Listed perfectly between Striker and Stut. **(A/N Sorry for the crappy last names) **I carefully pressed the numbers, trying hard not to make a mistake. The phone rang.

"Hello?" a feminine voice said. "Hi." I replied, "This is Rachel Dare, I was wondering is Travis was there." There was a slight pause before Travis practically shouted, "Rachster! What's up, dude!?"

"Yeah, right." I said slowly, "I have a small favor for you." There was a pause before he responded, "What kind of favor are we talking about?"

I twisted a lock of hair between my index finger and thumb. "Do you want all of the details?" I asked.

"Sure," he responded, "why not?" He waited patiently before I began.

"I want you to knock on Percy's apartment door and keep him distracted and from turning around until I say you can stop."

"First," Travis insisted, "What's in it for me?" I could imagine him grinning mischievously from the other end of the line. "Whatever you want." I said. "I'm going to save this favor from you." he replied, "Just watch out because it could pop up anywhere."

"Listen," I sighed, "I have to go, I have a lot of planning to do." And with that, I hung up.

**Percy's POV**

I was sitting at my kitchen table, loose leaf papers scattered around me. Textbooks and worksheets piled up in the corner and a calculator sitting on top of the pile topped it off. I bit the eraser of my blue pencil nervously. I had absolutely no idea how to do the impossible calculus problem that was staring at me.

The fan above me whirred and buzzed as it swept cool air on the back of my neck. My mom was working the emergency room shift at the hospital so I was alone.

The doorbell rang, and I got up, grateful for a distraction. I crossed the peach walled living room and pushed open the door. Unbelievably, Travis stood there, a black mustache stuck upon his face.

"Um, hi." I said nervously, "What are you doing here?" He smiled and started to dance. I stepped back to slam the door in his face when he grabbed my wrist. "No, no, no, no, no." He spoke in a French accent. _This is going to be a long night._ I thought.

**Drew's POV**

Rachel and I climbed up the fire escape, a crowbar in hand. "Are we up to his floor yet?" I panted. My lean, toned legs were made for cheerleading and reeling boys in, not for climbing forty flights of stairs.

"Chill, we're almost, there." Rachel responded. I tried to suck up my hatred for the climb. I thought about Percy. _ What the hell was he doing, dumping Rachel? He is such an ass._ My thoughts got interrupted by Rachel. "Here we go." she said eagerly.

Before we broke out the crowbar, we tried opening the window normally. It easily slid up and we climbed inside. "I guess we won't be needing this." I sighed tossing the crowbar off the escape. A crash sounded and a car alarm went off.

Rachel glared at me. "Jeez, would you calm the hell down?" she scolded. "What?" I whisper yelled, "I didn't-" Rachel cut me off. "We have to chill and quickly find something." she soothed, "We have no time for arguments." I wanted to argue but she had a point.

We both rummaged around. There seemed to be nothing at all. No baby pictures, embarrassing CD's, or stuffed animals. All the journals were bare and locked drawers were empty. Rach is a wiz with bobby pins.

Just as we were about to give up, I plucked something off the floor. It was a pair of boxers, but not normal ones, these ones had pink poodles all over them. Not a cartoon one, though. Pictures of a real poodle was plastered all over them.

"Jackpot." I announced.

**Rachel's POV**

I snatched the boxers from Drew, thanking her as I stuffed the boxers in my bag. I clambered out the window and onto the fire escape. Drew shut the window as I texted Travis saying he was free to go.

When we got to the bottom, we caught a taxi and went back to my place. We investigated the underwear more closely. Percy was written in sharpie on the tag. This was too good.

**Travis's POV**

Distracting Percy was excruciating. He almost turned around about twelve times. I saw Rachel through the open door. She made a sign that was saying to pick it up. I decided to tell a joke. "So, uh, what did one banana say to the other banana?" I feebly asked.

"What?" Percy sharply replied. "You look very appealing! Haha! Get it? Because you peel bananas!" Percy just looked at me. "Is that some type of sex reference?" he asked.

After doing a one man show about Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, I had completely run out of ideas. Percy turned to go but Drew was right in the door way. I needed to act, quick.

That was when I kissed him. Full on the lips. His eyes were wide and he tried to push me away, but I knew if we broke apart, he would turn and see Drew.

Drew disappeared and my phone buzzed, indicating that I could leave. He pushed me away and wiped his lips with his sleeve. "What the f*ck!?" he shouted and slammed the door in my face. _Mission accomplished._

**Percy's POV**

After I slammed the door in Travis's face, I walked back into the kitchen. I stuffed all the papers and books into my bag, not caring that I had another seven exercises left.

I walked into my room and threw off my pants and shirt. I climbed into bed and turned off the light.

~(0)~

When I arrived at school the next morning, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My poodle underpants were flying high on the flagpole, my name clearly printed on the tag. Snickers and pointing fingers erupted all around me.

I pulled my hood up and walked into school. There I saw Rachel and Drew give me a small three fingered wave as I walked down the hallway of humiliation.


	5. She Did it for Revenge

**She Did it for Revenge**

**Percy's POV**

About a million curses were streaming through my mind at this point. I was always a laid-back, laugh-it-off kind of guy, but the fact that Rachel did this to get revenge made my blood boil. All I wanted to do was curl up into a ball beside Annabeth and stay there the whole day.

I doubted she was even coming to school. I fiddled with my lock for a minute before my locker burst open, a billion beads cascading out. I turned my head to see Rachel and Drew laughing their fricken' heads off on the opposite side of the hall.

I scowled. I looked next to them seeing a pretty dark haired girl holding a small video camera. She got the whole thing on tape. Just as I thought my luck couldn't get any worse, Principle Howard came strutting down the hall. "Mr. Jackson, what in the wor-"

But he didn't get to finish because he slipped on a purple bead and crashed to the floor. By now, the three girls were howling with laughter, the brunette still holding the camera. Crap.

**Annabeth's POV**

I was dreading school the next day. I didn't want to face all the bitches and idiots that swarmed Goode High. I was especially not looking forward to seeing Rachel.

I got to school later than I wanted to. The first bell had already rung and kids were rummaging around in lockers and sprinting to homeroom. The school seemed to be in some sort of buzz. "…beads in the locker…" I kept hearing bits and pieces of the story that happened to be flying around. "…then Howard slipped…" "…got it all on tape…"

When I was almost to my locker I slipped on a pile of beads. Beads were everywhere. Pink, purple, blue, yellow. All of the beads were different sizes and shapes, too. Oval beads, heart beads, evil eye beads, they were scattered all across the hall.

I steadily got up but slipped again. Before I hit the floor two sturdy hands grabbed me. At first, I thought it was Percy, here to propose his undying love for me, but instead, it was Thalia. Not that I wasn't grateful or anything.

"Seriously, dude." She said, "Watch your step." I brushed myself off and threw my hair in a bun. "Thanks." I gratefully said, "I seriously owe you two." Thalia smiled and asked, "Hey, are you up to anything after school?" I thought for a second. No book clubs, field hockey, or plans with other friends, not that I had any in the first place.

"No." I ended up saying, "Why, do you want to do something?" She grinned and nodded her head. "I'll meet you at your locker after school." And with that, she strolled down the hall.

Homeroom was a complete disaster. It was exactly like the crazy school scenes you only see in movies. Paper airplanes soared overhead, spitballs stuck to the back of nerd's shirts, kids on desks, crumpled paper being thrown. I wasn't surprised to see Mrs. Laurel, my wrinkly homeroom teacher, asleep in her spin chair.

I figured I had nothing to lose so I took out my cell phone and texted Thalia. 'hey, thales' I texted, 'wats up?' No longer than a minute passed before she texted back, 'the ceiling. lol. jk, that was so lame. so ur pretty badass, texting in class, huh?' I giggled. I did feel pretty badass.

We texted the whole homeroom and I figured that I looked just like the other delinquents bustling around the room, just a rebel teen who didn't give a crap. But the question was, did I want to look like one, be one, or just be the loser I have always been?

**Percy's POV**

Principle Howard grabbed me on the collar and dragged me to his office. When he asked me what was going on I tried my best to explain. I told him the whole story about how Rachel was jealous, the underpants, and how I had no clue that beads would spill out of my locker.

He just looked dazed.

I was surprised that he didn't expel me, or even suspend me. All he did was give me an hour detention in the library from study hall until an hour after school let out.

The rest of my day was beyond boring. I almost fell asleep in biology and accidentally took a small nap in social studies. The only fun part of the day was detention. Wow, I never thought I'd say that.

**Annabeth's POV**

As I walked down the hall, leaving homeroom, a gorgeous blonde girl bumped me. It didn't hurt me, or knock me over; it just gave me a small wake-up call. I wanted to be seen. I wanted to strut down the hall, with boys ogling me from all angles, for ugly losers to look up to me and think; Wow, she is so cool and beautiful. I was going to change.

During study hall, I went to the library. I didn't know if I was happy or disappointed that Percy was two tables across from me. I tried to ignore him.

I was hard. Every time I looked up he winked at me and motioned for me to come forward. I just rolled my eyes and continued to work. "Pssst!" he whispered, "Annabeth, over here." I glared at him. "I can obviously see where you are and that you want my attention." I scolded back. "I know, but I want you to come over to me." he whispered.

I gave up and moved my books next to him. "What?" I asked. He gave me a stupid grin and said, "Hi." I was annoyed. "Is that all?" I asked. He shook his head, his black hair swinging across his face. "I just wanted to say that I really like you and I want to go out with you sometime."

I will admit, I was shocked. The mature thing to do would be to accept that we were never meant to be together and get on with my life, but something inside me said to do it. I really did like him, and what was the worst that could happen.

"Percy," I started, "I would love to go out with you." He smiled and hugged me. We exchanged phone numbers. "How about Thursday after school?" I asked, "We could go grab a pizza." He grinned even bigger. "Sure, great!" he said a little too loud because right then the librarian shushed and separated us. But that didn't mean we couldn't text.

**A/N: So, how did you like it? I would say I will have the next chapter done by the thirteenth, (9/14/12). Please review and give ideas and suggestions!**


	6. Makeover

**Makeover**

**Annabeth's POV**

After a study hall filled with winking smiley faces and lol's, I floated down the hall towards my locker. The janitors had cleaned up all the beads so the halls were clear and I didn't have to worry about another thing to trip on.

As I shoved my fat science textbook in my backpack, Thalia came up to me. She casually flipped her hair out of her eyes and leaned against the locker next to me. "You ready?" she asked. I zipped up my bag and flung it over my shoulder. "Let's go." I grinned.

First Thalia took me to a makeup store. Isles and isles of makeup lined the walls; mascara, eyeliner, foundation, lipstick, eye shadow. The list went on.

A peppy man walked up to us. "Anything I can help you girls with?" he said a little too enthusiastic. "Yeah," Thalia spoke up, "We need to get this girl a stock." She gestured to me. "No prob." The guy said and walked off.

"You think he's gay?" Thalia whispered to me. I started to giggle uncontrollably. "Oh my gosh, yes!" I giggled. Thalia leaned closer and whispered, "The gay ones are good, though, because they know what people like."

Two minutes later he came back with a bucket load of supplies. I took nearly a hour for him to find what I looked good in after holding up supply after supply.

After that was done, we strolled out, bags of product in our arms. Thalia insisted on paying so I didn't spend a dime.

Next, we walked into an exclusive-looking store. The floor was wooden and shiny and the walls were a perfect shade of blue. Green, funky lamps hung from the ceiling and stylish clothes were everywhere. Up-to-date music blasted, making it hard to hear.

Thalia plucked a bunch of clothes on the racks and shoved them at me. "Here," she shouted over the music, "Try these on." I wobbled over to the dressing rooms, the clothes making my arms heavy.

I tried on dresses, jeans, shorts, skirts, tank tops, and shoes over and over. Every time I came out I did a little pose and Thalia told me what she thought. Summing it up, she loved everything. We checked out and Thalia told me she had one final place in mind.

She slapped her hand over my eyes and led me into a store. It smelled like roses and fabric. She slowly took her hand off my face. It took my disoriented eyes a while to adjust, and when they did I was amazed.

We were in a store called "Girly Stuff", it was a prom store. Fabulous dresses and gorgeous shoes were neatly displayed around the store. Short dresses, long dresses, short in the front, party in the back dresses were everywhere! I was amazed.

"We are here to find you a prom dress." Thalia presented. I shook my head. This was a lot to take in, especially since I just hooked up with Percy several hours ago, and what if it didn't work out? "Thales," I said, "I don't think I can do this, I mean, me and Percy just go together a couple of hours ago, and what if it doesn't work out?" Thalia sighed. "Are you for real?" she asked, "First of all, it's going to work out, and second, even if it possibly doesn't you can go single." I figured I had nothing to lose, plus, all of these dresses _were_ tempting.

The first dress I tried on was violet. I was velvety and way too long. I tripped on my way out of the dressing room. The second I stepped out Thalia immediately yelled, NO! "Whoa," I breathed, "What are your reasons" I kind of liked this dress and I wanted to know why she didn't.

"Well," Thalia droned, "The material is droopy, purple is not your color, and you are going to trip over that thing during prom."

She had a point. I walked back in to the dressing room and tried on a sparkly blue dress. I glided out of the dressing room and to Thalia. "So?" I asked. Thalia sat with her chin in her hand, she was staring at my dress. "Too flashy," she finally decided, "You don't want to be the disco ball that flashes lights into everyone's eyes.

Four dresses later I came out in a short silky yellow dress. A bow the size of my hand was tied on my right and the dress was sleeveless. The dress came down just below my knees and it had an extra lace layer under the first. I stood in front of Thalia and curtsied. "That's it." she finalized and we walked towards the shoes.

I saw the shoes I wanted as soon as we walked into the isle, they were yellow silk, like my dress, and had an open toe. They had a one and a half inch heel and tied around my ankle. A small flower on the toe topped it off. They were perfect.

This time, I simply would not allow Thalia to pay. This was a prom dress, and it wasn't even hers. Thalia drove me home and I waved goodbye and thanked her for everything. I had way more fun than I thought I would.

**A/N: Yes, this was an Annabeth chapter. Well, this was really short and I truly apologize. The next BIG chapter will be here by (9/15/12) Please review! I need ideas and feedback!**


	7. First Date

**First Date**

**Annabeth's POV**

I was really nervous about my date with Percy. I didn't want to screw everything up, like I usually do, and I didn't want to reassure myself that it would be fine because I didn't want to jinx it.

Another problem was that I didn't know what to wear. We were just getting pizza and then maybe catch a movie. I shouldn't wear a dress or skirt because I would be sitting and everyone would see up my skirt.

After about a half an hour of ripping apart my entire wardrobe, I settled on stonewashed jeans and a light green tank top with Mickey Mouse on it. I grabbed my wallet and jammed my phone, chap stick, and a twenty dollar bill in it.

Now I had to put on makeup. I actually didn't have to put it on, but I wanted to look neat and pretty for my date. I didn't want to overload so I put on a light coat of black eyeliner on the end of my eyelids and my waterline, and I brushed on some mascara.

I gazed at myself in my small mirror; pictures of owls, my favorite animal, and myself were tucked into the sides, leaving a little bit of the small mirror left. Something was missing. I sprayed of a little bit of pink sugar perfume. _Hmmm, _I thought, _no, still not right._

Then I realized that my hair looked as if a raccoon made a nest and died in it. I yanked a brush through my hair, trying to tame it. My curls just wouldn't stay put. I whipped out my purple flat iron and began ironing away. It took a little longer than I wanted it to, because when I was finished, I only had ten minutes before I met Percy.

I did another quick brush through my, now straight, hair and grabbed my wallet off my yellow dresser. I stumbled downstairs and threw my navy Toms on and ran out the door. I decided to take my dad's car; I sure hoped he didn't need it anytime soon.

I shoved the key into ignition and slowly backed out of the driveway, checking in my rearview mirror as I left. It took seven minutes to get to Pierre's Pizza, the local pizza restaurant where we were meeting.

I hopped out of the jeep and sprinted into the restaurant. It was around seventy degrees and smelled like cheese and various spices. I spotted Percy on his phone, patiently waiting, at a nearby table, dodging waiters and waitresses carrying pitchers of water and pizzas.

"Hey," I breathed while plopping down across from Percy. He looked up and smiled. "Glad you could make it." he joked. I let out a small laugh. "So," he started, "After dinner would you want to catch a movie, or something?"

That sounded like the best plan I'd heard all day. "That'd be awesome." I replied, "What are you into, horror, drama, comedy, romance?" He put his hand in his chin and thought. "I think I'm more of a comedy kind of guy." he responded, "I'm always up for a good laugh."

I was glad he liked comedy; it was my favorite genre next to romance. "I like comedy too." I jabbered, "How about The Dictator, I haven't seen it and it got awesome reviews.

Percy smiled and nodded. "That would be fantastic." he said. I scooted my chair back a little to adjust my legs so I could stretch them out more under the table, but it wasn't my best idea. The chair bumped into a nearby waiter who was carrying not one, two, or three, but four pitchers of water on a single tray.

He slipped and fell to his butt, water splashing all the tables within a two yard radius. I froze, my mouth agape. I thought Percy would leave me right then and there, but he did the opposite.

It was silent for a couple of excruciatingly long second before Percy burst out laughing. But he wasn't laughing at me, he was laughing at the scene in general. The soggy waiter on his ass, soaking costumers dripping with icy water, and the plastic pitchers lying on the floor.

Before I knew it, I was laughing too. We both howled with enjoyment for a minute before the waiter scowled at us and we quickly scrambled to pick up our stuff and ran out the double door entrance.

As soon as we were halfway down the block from the restaurant, we sat down on a wooden bench with a small engraving that said; FOR KATIE. We panted for a minute and watched the clouds before Percy asked, "How about that movie?"

**Percy's POV**

I paid eight dollars for both me and Annabeth's tickets. We ordered a large popcorn to share, since we never got to eat dinner, and sat in the back corner of the theater. **(A/N: I think you know what's going on ;) )**

As the movie continued, we got closer and closer. We snuck in pecks on the lips every ten minutes. By the last half hour, Annabeth was on my lap. I could see people turn around and glance at us, but I didn't care.

When the credits played, Annabeth scooted off me and we lightly clapped. Well, and we kissed again. We stood up and threw out our empty cups and the large popcorn that was gone because half of it was on the floor after we attempted to pop it into each other's mouths.

"Can you wait a minute?" I told Annabeth, "I have to go to the bathroom." She nodded and leaned against the wall across from the boy's bathroom, pulling out her phone.

I pushed the door open and was astounded to see Rachel standing in front of me. "What the hell are you doing?" I asked her. She just smiled and walked closer. "We belong together." she started.

_Uh-oh,_ I thought,_ Is she going to be one of those psycho ex-girlfriends who follows you everywhere? _"Can't you see it? Can you see the vision in your mind?" I backed away. "I don't want to be with you." I stated, "I even have a new girlfriend."

Rachel snorted. "You mean that Annabeth girl?" she shrieked, "She doesn't even count as a girl!" I was done with her, I didn't want to see her face again. "Listen, Rachel." I said, "I'm done with you. We're over!" I turned to the door. "Oh," I added, "By the way, you're in the boy's bathroom."

She rolled her eyes. "This is the girl's bathroom, moron." Then she strolled out the door.

**A/N: I hope you liked it! It wasn't as long as I wanted it to be, but it's ten thirty and I need to go to bed. Please review and favorite! And don't forget to follow!**


	8. Meant to Be

**Meant to Be**

**Annabeth's POV**

After my date with Percy, I was in the best mood I had ever been in. I couldn't stop grinning and it honestly was starting to make my face hurt.

When I got home I trotted up to my bedroom. I tossed my wallet onto my bed and walked over to the mirror. I gazed at myself in the mirror and realized that I needed to take a shower. I would've anyway, since the movie theater chairs are gross.

I took a short shower and got into my pajamas, which were fuzzy blue pants and a green tank top. I stood in front of my mirror and combed my hair and started to braid it.

I saw a sharp movement in the window from the reflection in the mirror. I turned but saw nothing. I figured it was just a squirrel or raccoon. Or even a stray cat. I continued to braid my hair. It happened again. This time I turned around faster but still didn't see anything.

I was really uneasy by this time and went over to the window to check it out. All I saw was black and a few white stars. The moon was orange. I opened my window and stuck my head out the window. A ladder was propped up on the side, next to my window.

My eyes followed up the ladder from the bottom until they rested on Rachel, who was perched on the top. "Hello." she said in a tone that made my skin prickle, "You probably remember me."

She placed a sneakered foot on the ledge of my window. "Mind if I come in?" she asked. She didn't wait for my response before climbing in.

"Pretty room." she admired, "Sad thing you might die in it." At this I was terrified. "Uh," I started, "What do you mean? I must have heard you wrong." She grinned mischievously. "Oh you heard me just fine." she reassured.

"You should leave, now." I tried to say as kind as I could. I didn't know what Rachel was capable of, but I hoped murder wasn't one. "Oh, no." Rachel chirped, "I like it right here." She reached into her black coat's pocket and pulled out a gun.

I gasped. What the hell did she want from me? "Rachel," I said, "I don't exactly know what I did to upset you, but I'm sure we can resolve it with words." Rachel just shook her head. "That won't be necessary." she said while fiddling with the gun, "And you know exactly what you did."

She aimed the gun at my chest. "Rachel, please, don't." I begged, "What did I do wrong?" She gritted her teeth. "You know what you did!" she whispered, "You stole Percy right out of my hands. He was mine and you took him away!" She was yelling now, I hoped someone, anyone, would hear and come in to help me.

"I'll dump him." I promised, "I can fix what I did and you can have him again." She didn't say anything; she only continued to glare at me. "The damage is done." she stated, "You can't undo anything that happened. It's over. And for what you did, you'll have to die."

I closed my eyes and thought. _There has to be some way out of this_, I thought, _what can I do to stop this?_ Then, it hit me full speed, _right between the eyes_. I snatched the hair tie I was going to use to tie my braid off my wrist and flung it right between Rachel's eyes. The gun fell to the floor and I grabbed it. The metal felt cold and powerful in my hand.

"I guess some things can change." I stated, "Also, everything that happens is meant to be. I guess you and Percy weren't." Rachel steamed. I swear to God, I could see her face turned bright red and steam pour from her ears.

Just as I thought I had won, and everything would work out fine, Rachel charged at me. She pushed me over and right out the window. I tried to grab the ladder that still lay on the side of the house but I missed and fell down two stories and into a bush. The gun flew from my hand during the fall and landed a good five yards from the bush I landed in.

Rachel stuck her head out the window and gazed down at me. She smirked and giggled. After that, she climbed down the ladder and walked over to the gun. She gingerly took it and pranced over to me, grinning like crazy the whole time. Wait, she was crazy.

She aimed the gun at my face. I was too worn out to move. My foot was stuck between two branches and my arms and hands were sore and bleeding. It felt like I had run two marathons and collapsed into a thorn bush.

I slowly picked up my hand and held it out in a 'stop' position. "Please, Rachel." I croaked, "You don't need to do this." She snickered, "Annabeth, dear." she soothed, "Just like you said, everything that happens is meant to be and well, I guess an early death for you is. Any last words?"

All I remember was a gunshot and then black.

**A/N: Oh, a cliff hanger! So many questions to be answered! Sorry for the short length, I wanted it to end a cliffy. Please follow, rate, favorite and review! I love you all 3 Watch out for chapter 9 that will be here around 9/17 to 9/20!**


	9. Reality

**Reality**

**Annabeth's POV **

A blinding white light shined in my face. I shielded my eyes with my arms. The light dimmed slightly and I could see people sitting down in front of me. I was standing on a large wooden stage, a black microphone perched on a stand a foot in front of me.

I looked down at myself; I was dressed in a blue and yellow striped dress. It fell to my knees and had five inch long sleeves. My hair was in a soggy braid and my aching feet were covered in my satin yellow shoes for prom.

I looked up at the people sitting below me and realized they were at a small desk. Neat papers stacked in front of them along with perfectly aligned pens and small glasses of water. The ice clinked around and I noticed that I was extremely thirsty. I swallowed and my throat burned.

The people sitting looked very proper. A young man with brown hair and a navy suit sat in the leftmost chair, an older woman with frizzy blonde hair in the middle and on the other side was a middle-aged man with grey hair and a neatly trimmed beard. I saw the older man say something but I couldn't hear. I only saw his chapped lips mouth something I couldn't make out.

"Huh?" I croaked. A now-known audience behind the three people erupted with laughter. I felt my face burn. The man cleared his throat, "I said, wake up, Annabeth." I was confused, what did he mean? "I-I'm sorry," I apologized, "But I don't understand what you want me to do."

The man just smiled, this time, the woman spoke up, "All you have to do is wake up." she instructed. I closed my eyes. _Wake up, wake up, wake up. _I repeated in my mind. Soon the 'wake ups' became louder. My voice became more and more real until I was laying in a hospital bed murmuring, wake up.

**Rachel's POV**

I remembered the feeling of victory as I held the gun at Annabeth's face. Power overcame me and I felt as if I could do anything in the world and no one could stop me. I remember saying to her, "Any last words?", and pulling the trigger. But that's when it went downhill. It was supposed to be her feeling the pain of the bullet, not me.

**Annabeth's POV**

I was now well aware of my surroundings, itchy hospital sheets, white walls, stiff pillow, sore throat, curtain surrounding my bed. I rubbed my eyes and immediately felt the pain of unhealed scrapes and cuts on my arms. The deeper ones were wrapped up in a white bandage and a little bit of blood had started to seep through the center.

A tall glass of water was perched on the edge of my little table that sat next to me. Dew spread over the bottom half of the glass where the water and ice cubes were. I didn't see anyone near me. I sat up and my head throbbed with pain.

I took deep breaths and the pain subsided a bit. I reached for the glass and wrapped my hand around it. It was cold to the touch and the dew made it slippery. I tried to pick it up, but who knew water could be so heavy? The dew wasn't helping either.

The curtains surrounding my bed flew open. I drew my hand back to my side. A short nurse with olive skin and black hair that was pulled tightly into a bun stood in front of me. She grinned, revealing shiny white teeth. "I see you're awake." she told me and walked over.

She grasped the cup and held the red straw that I was now aware of and put it in front of my face. I took a long drink and then nestled back into the bed. "You have a couple of visitors." she notified me, "You won't be able to see them for another hour, I'm afraid because we need to do some testing."

This was all coming way too fast for me. I didn't even know what happened. Just as I thought that, all the memories of the previous night, or was it two nights, came flooding back to me, the date, the ladder, Rachel with a gun, falling out the window, the shooting.

Was I shot? No. She was aiming for my face and my face feels fine. Or did she shoot me somewhere else because of bad aim? I didn't feel anything wrong. Oh, but there are numbing pills and antibiotics. "Excuse me?" I asked the nurse. She looked at me with round brown eyes. "Was I shot?" I asked.

She gave me a weary smile and took a deep breath. "No." she said, "You were not shot, your friend Rachel, not so lucky." My mind raced. _What?_ "What happened?" I inquired. Rachel was most certainly not my friend but I still would feel a little sorry for her if she did get shot.

"Well," The nurse started, "Rachel was aiming for you but the gun backfired and shot her in the head. She wasn't very lucky and, well, she's dead." I gasped, dead? I could believe shot in the thigh or, lost an arm, but dead? I was astounded.

"I'm very sorry." The nurse stated, "Was she close?" I just shook my head, it was actually relieving to have Rachel dead, as insane as it sounds. Its nice knowing there isn't a girl running around the neighborhood trying to kill you.

"I'll have to send some doctors and nurses in for some tests." the nurse said, "It shouldn't take long." All I could tell you is that that was an understatement. During the tests, I was telling the story about what happened the night before. A sum of the tests were poking my cuts and bruises, taking blood, knocking on my head, and asking repeatedly, "Does this hurt?"

If I hear that phrase one more time, I'll shoot myself. Wait, never mind, that would probably lead to more tests.

After a million tests, they allowed visitors to come in. First, my dad, step mom, Bobby, and Matthew entered. My parents asked how I was feeling and told me how bad they felt about not coming in my room when they heard unusual noises. I brushed it off. I was currently more aggravated about my brothers playing with my bed, making me lay and sit over and over.

After they left, Thalia came in. She punched me in the shoulder and asked how I was feeling. I told her the story about what happened and she listened and didn't interrupt once, unlike the doctors did. We chatted a bit about the ugly hospital dresses and about how they should make them more stylish. Thalia suggested bedazzling them. "It wouldn't be my fashion choice," she explained, "But it's better than what they have now.

Once Thalia left, Percy walked in. I was glad that my heart skipping beats didn't show up on the monitor I was hooked up to. I went through the story and how I was feeling routine before we talked.

"I can't believe Rachel went that far." Percy was saying, "I knew she wanted me back, but did she really expect me to take her back after she killed you? Sure, she wouldn't have told me she killed you, but still, that's just sick, man."

I really loved his surfer dude talk. I smiled and gazed into his eyes. I was pretty sure we were just about to kiss before the olive skinned nurse ushered Percy out, explaining that visiting hours were over. He waved goodbye and I gave a three fingered wave and blew him a kiss.

After all the shit that happened the past few days, I think I got the best sleep I ever did that night.

**A/N: I wanted to leave another cliff hanger, but I didn't know where to put it. Like, Rachel comes back with at gun and tries to shoot Annabeth again? That would make no sense. Before you ask, I am not big on bringing back already deceased characters. So it's bye-bye Rachel. Plus, now that we're down a character, I can add in a new one! I didn't want to put everyone in, which would be too much going on. So, next chapter by the 21****st****. I love you all. Rate, review and follow! Don't forget to favorite. 3**


	10. New Life

**New Life**

**Bianca's POV**

It was yet another first day at a new school in a new town. Ever since I was a baby I had never settled down in one place. It was on with the next every time I just started to get used to my life. It makes me feel sad for my little brother, Nico, who just wants to make some friends and actually start his life.

I really want to start my life too. I am a sophomore and I still haven't started my life. In every single town, everyone is always like, "Oh, Bianca! You are ever so lucky! You get to see the world and visit new place every six to eight months!" But I can tell you, it's not all it's cracked up to be.

You have to make a new reputation, you can never have friends, you can't fall in love because you'll have to leave them, and you always get questions about your past life. All the people I've met wanted to know where I've been, where I'm going, what is it like? Well, it sucks. And now here I am, on the edge of California.

Some places I was happy to leave. Bad things had happened in some places, things I'm not proud of. I'm not going into details, of course. But, the bottom line is, sometimes even I need a fresh start, and it seems like the places I hated the most we stayed in longer.

_Bang, bang, bang_. Someone was knocking on my door. I finished folding a maroon tank top and left my red suitcase to answer the door. I grabbed the rusty handle and twisted it. An ear piercing shriek from the rusty metal burned a hole through my head. It needed some serious oil.

I swung the door open and Nico stood in the doorway. "When's lunch?" he immediately asked. I sighed, Nico was constantly asking for food and when the next meal was going to be. He stared up at me with round brown eyes.

Nico is a very complicated boy. He acts all happy and giddy when he is with me and when he's alone, but with strangers and other people, he acts Goth and wears black and chains. I usually remove the chains before he goes out, though.

"Nico," I sighed, "We haven't been here for a half hour can't you just wait another half hour until dinner?" He looked up at the ceiling and dramatically sighed. "But Bianca," he moaned, looking back at me, "I'm starving!" I rolled my eyes and figured I'd better give up now and whip him up a sandwich.

"Fine." I muttered in surrender. He beamed and shouted, "Yeah, food time!" I actually don't know why he can't make himself a sandwich. Just as I was considering that maybe he didn't know where the food was packed I remembered. When Nico was no older than nine he decided to make himself a snack.

He grabbed all of the ingredients for a sandwich; cheese, turkey, ham, mustard, bologna, salami, et cetera, and placed them carelessly on two slices of wheat bread. At the time, Nico was in a phase where he refused to eat anything cold. So he jammed the sandwich in the microwave and _splat_. Right before my eyes, sandwich everywhere and a small fire burning freely in the microwave. Don't ask me how it caught fire, maybe it was already overheated or he put the sandwich in for too long, I guess we'll never know.

I snapped back to reality and quickly fixed Nico up a sandwich. I smacked it on a paper plate and slid it across the table so it landed in front of him. "Mmmm," he purred, "Thanks, sis!" Then he furiously inhaled his sandwich. I rolled m eyes and carefully went back to my room, trying not to trip over any boxes.

My new room was a blank canvas. No carpeting and no paint, a few strips of peeled wallpaper clinging to the right wall, it defiantly needed some work. I wanted to paint it red, which was my new favorite color but I knew what my mom and dad would say, "Bianca, we've been over this before. We aren't staying for too long and we don't want to waste money on a dumb can of paint." Well, maybe they didn't say dumb, but you get the point.

I continued to unpack, folding all articles of clothes in a specific way so they wouldn't get wrinkled and carefully placing them in neat piles in the given dresser. With my left hand holding a stack of jeans, I opened the white dresser. Cobwebs stuck in the corners and dust was littered on the bottom. Splinters of wood were sticking out and it smelled like moth balls and old people.

I walked into the hallway, setting the jeans back on my bare bed. I pried a plastic blue tub opened that was labeled clearly in green sharpie; SHEETS. I rummaged around the bin until I found a small white sheet with a lacy border. No one in my family used it, or planned to, anytime soon, so I snatched it out of the bin.

Back in my bedroom, I folded the sheet twice and set it in my dresser. I smoothed out the bumps and stood back, admiring my hard work and creativity. It created a very nice liner, if I do say so myself. Once all of my drawers were lined with different sheets I neatly piled my clothing in.

The top left drawer contained all of my underwear, bras, tights, and tank tops. The top right held both my pajama tops and bottoms. The big drawer under the top ones had tee-shirts on the left, pants in the middle, and leggings on the right. Finally, I placed my socks and scarves in the bottom drawer and then hung up selected items in my closet.

Everything is always so neat and tidy in my room. Clothes are always folded in their designated place, the dirty ones in my hamper by the door. Pictures of paintings, old friends and family in cute frames spread across my desk, and my alarm clock and a box of tissues on my nightstand. Oh, and how could I forget my little goldfish who sits on top of my dresser.

I have insisted for over a year now that my fish has to travel with us. My dad is not so fond of this idea and I can prove it because I have caught him in the act of trying to rid of him several times.

It was October 12th and my mom decided that I should have a fit birthday present. I was thrilled to find a little fish, no bigger than my pinkie swimming freely in a glass tank on my dresser in Spain. A small note saying; Happy birthday, darling. I hope you like your present. Love, Mom and Nico. I had named him Two and he was my best friend since.

I know what you're thinking; her best friend is a fish? What a weirdo! Well, I really can't have friends. I always have to leave them in the end and it's way too sad. A couple trips ago I met a sweet girl named Valerie. We really kicked it off, and it was really depressing when I left.

I still have her number and e-mail but I never got the chance to use it, there was no wifi in Spain. I doubt she even remembers my name anymore.

Anyway, after I finished unpacking, I made my bed. I found my red and blue comforter in the bin next to the sheets and I spread it across my mattress. Once all of my pillows and favorite stuffed animals were neatly aligned, I slid into the kitchen to make dinner for myself.

I was defiantly not surprised to see Nico sitting on the couch with his Chuck-clad feet on the wooden coffee table. "Hey, Bianca." he acknowledged, "What's for dinner?" I sighed and asked him, "Nico, didn't I just make you a sandwich and hour ago?" He nodded, "Yeah," he noted, "But that was a long time ago and now I'm hungry again."

I rolled my eyes. "Do you know where mom and dad are?" I asked. Nico shook his head. "I haven't seen them since we got here." he stated, "They said they were going grocery shopping." That made a lot of sense; my parents aren't the best navigators, that's why we travel by plane. Even food shopping is a challenge for them.

"What do you want for dinner?" I asked Nico, "Is Mac and cheese okay?" He called out, "Sure!" over the noise of the soccer that was being played on the television. I fixed us both up two bowls of instant Mac and cheese. "C'mon!" I called to him, "Dinner's ready!"

He flung himself off the couch and into one of the hard chairs that were at the table. He picked up his neatly place fork and began to shovel the noodles into his mouth. I figured there was no point in stopping him so I ate my dinner in silence.

After dinner Nico and I sat down on the lumpy couch and watched several episodes of Regular Show reruns before heading off to bed. I jumped in the shower and took a quick, cool, shower, washing my long dark hair. After I was cleaned and my hair was brushed, I lied down in my bed and closed my eyes.

It was nine forty-five, a little early to bed for me. I could hear my wet hair crinkle against my blue pillow and Regular Show being played in the other room. Just as I was drifting off into sleep, the house door opened. I heard annoyed murmurs of my parents and the crinkle and crunch of paper and plastic bags.

A small rip sounded and a large crash followed. I jumped. "God dammit." I heard my dad's voice say as he scrambled to pick up, what I'm guessing was, the cans of soup that fell. I closed my eyes again. The crinkling of the bags was soothing and I fell asleep shortly after.

When I woke up, I felt well-rested like I always do. I sat up in bed and stretched my arms towards the ceiling. I yawned and clambered out of bed. _Hmmm,_ I thought, _my first day of school, what to wear, what to wear._ I carefully picked around my perfectly folded clothes and plucked out a red pleated skirt and a white shirt with a blue bow by the collar out of the closet.

I tossed my pajamas into the hamper and got dressed. Next, I made my bed and brushed my straight long hair so it had no knots or unpleasant bumps. Since it was a special occasion, I squirted on a little bit of flowery perfume. I inhaled deeply. I smelled amazing.

My parents insisted that Nico and I walk to school. I was opposed to the idea. We lived a good two miles from the school and the walk would be long and tiring. When I tried to explain this to my mom, all she said was that we'd just better get going soon. I quickly jammed a waffle down my throat and brushed my teeth. I jogged out the door to meet up with Nico, who had already began to walk.

Nico was munching on a chocolate chip granola bar. "Do you ever stop eating?" I asked him. "Nope." he replied, "Never have, never will." When we arrived at the school it looked big. And I mean like gigantic. A girl named Annabeth, who was chosen by the teachers, was supposed to escort me and help me to my classes.

When I walked in I saw a peppy-looking blonde girl looking at a sheet of paper. She was wearing a red and white striped tank top and a denim skirt that looked way too short. "Ahem?" I timidly said, "Are you Annabeth?" She looked up and smiled showing brilliant white teeth. "Yes, I am." Annabeth answered and I followed her down the hall.

While we walked she asked me about myself and what I liked to do. I gave her short answers, and tried to look like I blended in. She stopped at locker 835. "Here it is." she announced while banging on the locker two times. "Your combination is 12-02-30." She handed me a small slip of paper with the combo on it.

"Thanks." I said, taking the paper. We walked around together the whole day, her pointing out certain places in the school. She showed me my classes and warned me about mean and strict teachers. Just as I was about to go in my homeroom for study hall, Annabeth called me over.

"So," she started, "Are you doing anything tonight? I'm having a killer sleepover party at my house tonight with a few other people." I thought about it. Did I really want to be with a bunch of popular juniors all night? No. But instead I found myself saying, "Yeah, that sounds cool."

_What are you doing?_ I mentally scolded myself. _You can't make friends! Now, go tell her you can't go! _But before I could say anything, Annabeth had said great and handed me a piece of paper with her cell phone number, address, and the time to be at her house. _Moron,_ I scolded myself as I walked into study hall.

**A/N: So tell me… how do you like the long chapter? How about the new spacing? And I'm sorry that this was kind of a boring chapter but I really need to introduce Bianca because she will be a HUGE part of the story! So rate, review, and follow! I love you! 3**


	11. New Start

**New Start**

**Annabeth's POV**

I was really happy that I was allowed to leave the hospital the next morning. I missed my own bed even after one night. When I woke up, in my own bed, I did my daily morning routine, make bed, brush hair, and throw together a crappy outfit. But, that was where I got stopped. Thalia burst through my bedroom door screaming for me not to make another move. In my pajamas, clothes in hand I froze.

"Drop it." she instructed and I instantly dropped my outfit. "This," she said, "Is where you're going wrong." She shook my clothes in my face. She shoved a slutty outfit at me. "Put it on." she demanded and I threw off my pants and tank top and put on the outfit she put together. I must say, I looked pretty hot. She gave me a tight red tube top and a denim mini-skirt.

Thalia smirked in an I-told-you-that-you-look-good-in-slutty-clothes way. "There." she announced in a presentation way, "You look like America's Next Top Model." I snorted, "Yeah, sure." while I applied eyeliner and mascara. "Seriously, Annabeth." she told me, "You look really hot, but like, not in a lesbian way or something." I brushed on brown eye shadow.

"Thales," I stated, "You know that I can never believe you." She rolled her eyes. "Okay, then." she said, "Don't believe me. But it's true. Now look at you, all dolled up. You could get any boy you want." I interrupted, "But, did you forget? I already have a boy." We both smiled.

Thalia drove both of us to school. While we were in the car, she gave me an entire lesson on being popular. "What if I don't want to be popular?" I told her and she frowned. "Annabeth," she started, "With your looks, you already are so you should act like it." I shrugged, she did have a point. I opened the car mirror and rolled on my favorite cherry chap stick.

"Thalia," I started, "You know that if I become popular, you're coming with me." She smiled. We parked in front of the school right under a small tree. "Are you ready?" Thalia asked. "I was born ready." I sniffed and opened my car door. I stepped out and put my brown sunglasses on. I flipped my hair over my shoulder and strutted into the school, Thalia at my heels.

Eyes flew towards me from every angle. Hot boys smirked at me and made some, er, inappropriate gestures. Snobby girls jealously whispered behind hands. I grinned. I was going to own this school. I slung my bag off my shoulder and fumbled around my locker, getting books for my morning classes.

Once I had everything I walked back to the front of the school, I was chosen by my teachers to show the new girl, Bianca, around the school. I was going to protect her and make sure no one ever put her down. I scanned over my tour sheet for the fifth time but was interrupted by a small, "Ahem." I looked up. A small olive-skinned girl with long, shiny, dark hair stood in front of me. She had her own little style going on. I liked it.

I showed her around the school, trying my best to explain everything. I made sure to include which teachers and groups to steer clear of. She seemed extremely shy and only used small words to answer my questions, whatever, not my problem. Oh, wait, it is. _By tomorrow_, I thought, _she'll be bursting with energy._

"So," I started, "Are you doing anything tonight? I'm having a killer sleepover party at my house tonight with a few other people." I thought she was going to say no, because her face sure looked like it. But instead, she gave me a small, sure. I gave her a piece of paper with my personal info on it and trotted off to lunch.

I walked out of the salad area of the lunch room and headed to my normal seat. Thalia was already there. "Hey." I said casually, setting my tray down. The apple rolled onto the table. "So, I was thinking of having a sleepover at my house tonight." Thalia grinned and told me it was a great idea. I knew she would say that. "So," I stated, "Invite wise, I was thinking of inviting that new Bianca girl, she seems shy and maybe we could, you know, fix her up a bit? And how about, er, what's her name, Katie! Kate Gardner."

"That sounds awesome." Thalia answered, "How about one more person?" I thought about it and replied, "How about Hazel?" Thalia gave me a weird look, "You mean that depressed Goth girl?" she asked. I shook my head, she was right, Hazel wasn't a good choice. Then a light bulb popped over my head. "Miranda!" I cried, "That funny girl that always says hi to me in the hall." We both gave each other a look that said, "Oh, yeah."

In the hall, when I saw Katie and Miranda, I gave them a cute little invitation I had made in the library during English. When I checked my phone after the dismissal bell, I got two texts from both of them saying that they could come and how excited they were.

I grinned and slammed my locker shut. I walked down the middle of the hall, texting, and for the first time everyone moved out of _my_ way._ I_ was the alpha. I was the new leader of the school. Rachel and Drew were old news, and I was the overnight, latest, newest, trend. And by tomorrow, after my killer sleepover, I was going to be a sensation.

I hopped into Thalia's dark blue car and buckled up. "I am super excited about tonight." I gushed, "It's going to be a blast! Do you think we should've invited more people? It's kind of small. Never mind, it's my first sleepover at my house." Thalia just looked at me. "You just came in, blurted about how excited you are, asked me a question, and then answered it yourself." she told me, "Are you aware of that?" I giggled; I guess I was just really happy.

Before heading to my house to set up, we stopped at AP & P and picked up some soda, chips, and ice cream. We also went to Party Fair and grabbed some funky decorations. When we finally got to my house, arms full of bags, we collapsed on the nearest sofa. I gasped and Thalia looked at me, concerned. What's wrong?" she asked. "I totally forgot to ask my dad and Kristin about the sleepover." I whispered.

"Well," she said, "Then go tell them! We did not just go through all of this for no party." I timidly walked over to my dad, dropping the bags of food in the hall as I went. "Hey, dad." I said, "So, is it okay if I have a little sleepover here tonight?" He looked at me suspiciously. "I'm sorry Annabeth," he stated, "But I don't think your mom will want you to have friends over." I groaned, "But, dad," I started, "It's only four people, and I already asked them to come!"

He shook his head, "The only sleepover you can have is one outside." I lightened up, "So you mean they can still come if it's outside?" He shrugged, "Sure," he shrugged, "Why not?" I hugged him and said, "Oh thank you so much, we'll be really quiet! I also have my own food, so we won't have to come in!" Then, I ran out the door.

An hour and two band-aids later, me and Thalia had put up an orange tent the size of a regular bathroom. We stood back, admiring out handy work. "I'm surprised," Thalia notified, "I thought we were going to have to blow the party off, but, we did it." I stepped inside the tent, "Thales," I said, "Pass me those decorations.

She extended her arm that had the bag of sparkly decorations in it. I took at and began tying pink lanterns to the top of the tent. Next, I strung sparkly yellow poufs around the tent. Once I finished, I was pretty damn proud of my work. I set up a tiny table, smaller than a school desk, in the corner. I put the snacks, cups, napkins, soda, and flashlights on it.

We set up two sleeping bags for ourselves and sat in the tent, watching Shane Dawson videos until everyone came. Katie was the first one to arrive. We helped her set up her sleeping bag and pillow while she dug around in her bag. "Katie," I asked, "What are you looking for?" She continued to dig around in her purple duffel. "Wait…I almost….hold on…here it is!" she muttered and then pulled out a Mad Libs book. Thalia and I looked at each other, "Um," Thalia debated, "What is so special and fun about Mad Libs?"

"Well," Katie stated, "Have you ever put dirty words into Mad Libs? Because, it is probably the best sleepover activity I have ever done. I 100% guarantee that you will laugh." I shrugged, it could be fun. "That sounds awesome." I told her, "We have to do that tonight. Along with some truth or dare, I have been thinking of questions and dares all day."

Right after I said that, Miranda strutted through my backyard gate. "You never said it was gonna be outside!" she complained, "I could have learned how to make bear shadows to scare you guys!" I ran up to her and gave her a hug. "We had a minor detour," I stated while taking her stuff. Miranda set up her own space in the tent while Thalia and Katie had a conversation about Mrs. Harriet, a strict teacher.

A few minutes later, Bianca timidly walked in. I grabbed her stuff and tossed it into the tent. "Let's get this party started!" I hollered while whipping my hair into a bun.

**A/N: How'd you like it? I'm sorry that there hasn't been much Percabeth but I have other parts of the story to make. I do have an adorable Percabeth idea, though. Continue to follow, rate, and favorite. And review, too! Ha, that rhymed.**


	12. Secrets Revealed

**Secrets Revealed**

**Bianca's POV**

As soon as everyone's sleeping bags were set up, it was getting dark out. The east side, where the sun was setting, was a pinkish orange color and on the opposite side of the sky was a dark blue. A full white moon hung over us.

"Creepy night for a sleepover," Miranda notified, "Isn't it?" We all nodded. I was hopeful that this sleepover was going to be a good start to a new place. Once I asked my parents, no doubt about it, if I could sleep over Annabeth's, they both said, "Yes!" in unison. My parents are always on my case about making friends and having a good time.

"It's super buggy tonight." Annabeth stated, "I say we spray on some bug spray and stay in the tent." That sounded like a great idea, I absolutely loathed mosquitoes and any other type of bug. I follow everybody else into the orange and grey nylon tent, kicking my ballet flats off as I entered.

I clambered in, trying hard not to trip over anything, and zipped the opening closed as I went in. I perched myself on my knees and took a look around. There were lanterns and poufs all over the top of the tent and snacks were piled in the corner.

"So," a goth-looking girl grunted, "What do you guys wanna do?" Annabeth spoke up after a second or two, "I think we should start out with Katie's Mad Libs, and save the more personal games for later." she suggested. Katie nodded, "I agree," she notified, "But, how about we change into pajamas first? These skinny jeans are killing me."

"Cool." Miranda stated and rummaged around in her green duffel for her pajamas. "How do you want to do this?" Annabeth asked, "Should we all get changed in here, or do you guys want to go inside?" I instantly knew that I wanted to go inside. I had only got dressed in front of people once, in Georgia, before I begged my mom for a note, excusing me from gym.

But, before I could put my say into anything, the goth girl spoke up, "I guess in here, I mean, sure, why not?" The other girls shrugged in agreement. "I guess that works, Thalia." Katie finalized, "Unless anyone else is against it." I couldn't find my voice. "Awesome." Miranda squeaked while pulling a pink tank top and dark blue shorts from her bag.

After she said that, everyone was digging around in their bags. Miranda pulled her shirt over her head, revealing a bra with spaceships on it, before pulling her tank top over her head. I quickly searched through my bag for my smiley faced yellow pajama pants and Hello Kitty tee shirt. I found the pants first, pulling the soft material from my neat maroon bag.

I conveniently pulled out my top next. Everyone was getting dressed, now, taking off their tops and pants, showing their colorful undergarments. At least I didn't feel self-conscious about my monkey bra, now. I turned away and quickly threw my top and pants off and pulled my pajamas on.

_Whew,_ I thought, _at least that's over._ All the girls were dressed, now. Thalia had on a black tank top with a skull on the right boob and lain black Sofe shorts. Annabeth was wearing an orange tank top with blue polka-dots all over and blue shorts. Katie had a tye-dye tee on with flower shorts. Lastly, Miranda had a softball shirt on that presented a bunny swinging a baseball bat and pink knee length pants.

"Okay, then." Annabeth smirked, "Let's do this thing!" Katie pulled out a Mad Libs pad and pencil from her duffel. "So here are the rules," she started, "All words have to have a medium level or higher of inappropriateness. Any word lower will be ignored, for example, poop, is the lowest level, the next level would be crap, and then shit is the highest. Does everyone understand?"

We all nodded and waited for her to begin. I was never the dirty type, in talking, I mean. So, this was going to be new to me. "Okay," Katie began, "Annabeth, adjective." She thought for a second before replying, "Slutty." Katie smiled, "I like how we're starting off strong." She asked Miranda next, "Miranda, another adjective." "Sexy." she immediately replied.

She moved on to Thalia who answered, prostitutes, for a noun. "Bionda?" she asked me. "Bianca." I corrected. "Right," Katie droned, "Bianca, noun." I thought about it, a noun? I wanted to say poop or pee, but that wouldn't cut it, I found myself saying, "Whore." Everyone snickered, "Nice," Katie celebrated. The words kept coming; sex, penis, aggressively, homosexual, blowjob, dicks. I was astounded at the word choice.

"Are you guys ready to laugh?" Katie snickered. We all nodded nervously and eagerly. "Okay, the title is called, Army Information." she continued,

"If you plan on joining the army, here are some slutty hints that will help you become a sexy solider. The army is made up of officers, non-coms, and prostitutes. You can recognize an officer by the whore on his shoulders and the sex on his cap. When you address an officer always say, "Penis!" and salute aggressively. If you get a homosexual haircut, keep your blowjobs shined and see that your dick is clean at all times, you will be a credit to the slogan, "the Army builds shits." And at roll call, when the bitchy sergeant calls your name, shout "Holy shit!" loud and clear. Also, become familiar with basic weapons such as the thirty-calibre condom and the automatic bullshit. Follow this advice and in no time you'll win the skimpy Conduct stripper."

At this point, we all were on the floor of the tent, laughing our heads off. I never was into dirty jokes, but this was the most hilarious thing I had ever heard in my entire life. Maybe this party wasn't such a bad idea. We did a few more Mad Libs, but they weren't as funny as the first. By this time, it was seven o'clock. We had done Mad Libs for two hours, with exceptional gossip and conversations in between.

"I think it's dinner time." Annabeth announced. I _was_ getting hungry. She ran out of the tent and came back a few minutes later with a box of pizza. While we munched on the cheese and pepperoni pizza, Annabeth was telling us about her new boyfriend, Percy. She described, in full detail, how their first date was. I was actually a little jealous that she had a boy that she loved and that he loved her back, but I blew off the thought.

The girls gossiped and ate potato chips and pretzels for an hour and a half while I listened in. I was a tiny bit bored, but their conversations about people in the school were very interesting. "Omigod," Miranda blurted, "So then Drew walks up to me and just shoves her tray of mashed potatoes on my new fifty dollar shirt." The other girls comforted her telling her that Drew was a bitch.

"So," Thalia started, "What's your deal?" She was looking at me, "Uh," I stuttered, "I don't understand what you're asking." "What's you deal? Where did you come from? How long are you staying? How's life?" Thalia droned, "It's a pretty open question." I took a deep breath, "Well," I started, "I came from Spain but I wasn't born there. I have been all over the world but I only stay in one place for six to eight months, I shouldn't be here for long."

"That seems cool," Katie stated, "But it must suck moving around all the time." I sighed, "You don't know the half of it." I muttered. We talked a while longer about where I had been and where I was going next. "Hey," Annabeth said as the clock ticked to nine thirty, "Why don't we start truth or dare?"

A minute later, we were all sitting cross-legged on Miranda's blue sleeping bag that was covered in white stars. I was really nervous. I actually had a ton of secrets and I didn't want to share. "I'll go first," Annabeth volunteered, "Miranda, truth or dare?" She immediately responded with a dare. "I dare you to lick Katie's foot. "Ew, but, alright." Miranda replied and went in to lick her foot. Katie squealed as her tongue brushed her foot.

"Gross!" Miranda exclaimed, "My turn, Thalia truth or dare?" Thalia obviously replied dare. "I dare you, to kiss Annabeth." "Ew, Miranda, you are so sick!" Thalia groaned but leaned to kiss Annabeth anyway. The quickly pecked each other on the lips. "That wasn't as amusing as I thought it would be." Miranda complained.

A while later after Thalia had blue eye shadow on and I had potato chips in my bra, we decided that there would be no more dares because they were getting slightly out of hand and we had run out of dares. I was now a good old game of truth or truth. I learned in this time that Percy was Annabeth's first boyfriend, Thalia's right boob was bigger than the left, and that Miranda had pees the bed within a month.

"How about," Annabeth yawned, "We just go around in a circle and share our darkest secrets." I have no idea why people do this for fun. For gossip, amusement, for trust in friends, all I knew was that I was going to have to participate. "I'll go first," Annabeth volunteered, "When I was five, I ran away from home. Now my entire family hates me except my dad."

Thalia went next, "When I was really little, well, not really little, it went on since I was eleven, I was in pageants. Like toddler beauty pageants."

Miranda shared her secret after, "I have a secret love and obsession for magic. I love to do magic tricks and I go to shows and I actually performed for libraries and old people for a few years."

Kate went after her, "In my backyard, there is a huge garden and I tell people it's my grandma's but it's actually mine. I love plants and trees and a few months ago I cried when my dad chopped down a tree in my front yard."

It was my turn; I hadn't told anybody my secret ever. The only person that knew was Nico. I didn't think I could do this. "C'mon." Thalia urged, "Spill it." I took a deep breath and began, "When I was in Spain," I stalled, I was not eager to say anything about Spain. I took another deep breath and blurted, "When I was in Spain I had a baby."

It got quiet in the tent. "You, what?" Miranda asked, unsure if she heard me right. "The first night I was in Spain I was really depressed." I breathed, "I was upset about leaving Tokyo, where I met a cute guy and we went out. I lost his number and he didn't have an e-mail. So, I was sad. I went to a bar and had a few drinks. This hot guy kept flirting with me and well, I was really drunk and we kind of went all the way, a week after I took a test and it was positive.

I told my parents I was staying with my aunt a few towns over. I actually did, but she left to go traveling after a week and she let me stay in her house. I had a baby girl. I put her up for adoption and never told anyone. The only person that knew was my little brother Nico. And now, you guys do."

**A/N: I told you she was a big part! Should I re-unite Bianca and her baby? Should one of the girls spill? I don't know what to do so REVIEW! Next chapter by Friday! LOVE YA!**


	13. She Was There

**She Was There**

**Annabeth's POV**

I swear to God, my jaw hit the floor. I could only stare at Bianca with a blank stare. I looked around at the others; they all had the same expression; wide eyes and jaws resting on the floor, a look of disbelief and anxiety spread across their faces.

I figured that I should break the silence. Poor Bianca was dying here with everyone just looking at her. "So," I coughed, "This is new." I know, it's lame and uncalled for but I didn't want Bianca to feel any more uncomfortable. Thalia took a deep breath. "Whoa," she exasperated, "Let's slow down, here. First, did I just hear what I think I heard?"

Bianca nodded and hung her head. "Okay," Thalia continued, "So how did you deal?" Before Bianca could answer, I interrupted, "I think we should take a break from all this truth crap." I blabbered, "Why don't we do something else? Like, er, like a pillow fight? Or how about a guessing game like "I Spy" or "What am I thinking of"?

Bianca let out a breath I didn't know she was holding. The strands of hair that were in her eyes fluttered around and then gently rested back in their previous position. She closed her big brown eyes with relief and relaxed the slightest bit. "I spy," Miranda began, "With my little eye, something…orange." She leaned back on her elbows, with her legs extended out in front of her.

"Is it my hair tie?" Katie guessed, referring to the band around her wrist. Miranda shook her head no. "Is it the tent?" Thalia spoke up. Miranda shook her head again. We all took turns, not including Bianca who had curled up into a ball, guessing what the orange object was.

"My hair?"

"That sleeping bag?"

"The bear?

"Her shorts?"

Eventually, after minutes of naming orange things around the tent, it was finalized on the bag of Cheez Doodles. "Is it the bag of Cheez Doodles?" Katie had yawned, bored with the game. Miranda's eyes lit up and she nodded and let out a whoop.

Miranda yawned and Katie and Thalia fluttered their eyes sleepily. "I think it's time to go to sleep." I yawned while looking at my phone. It was two in the morning. Everyone nodded in agreement. I stood up and shut off the lanterns that hung above us and nestled into my sleeping bag.

The rest of the girls all stretched out under their sleeping bags. "Good night." I moaned while clambering into my sleeping bag. "G' night" Thalia croaked. "Sweet dreams." Katie muttered. Miranda fake-snored for a minute before shutting up and actually trying to fall asleep.

I was actually really tired, my body screamed, "Go to freaking sleep, you dunce!" but I refused to close my eyes. I wanted to think about Bianca and maybe even talk to her. This was all a shock; I would have never guesses Bianca of all people. Thalia, sure, Miranda, why not? But, Bianca? Never in a million years.

I just had to face the facts and accept what had happened. The idea of tattling popped into my mind. I quickly pushed it away but it crept back into the center of my focus. My brain wanted me to make a decision. It needed to know what I wanted to do. I gave up and thought about it.

If I told; I would be even more popular. Everyone would want to talk to me about what happened, and people would want to come to my parties. If I didn't; I would have a good soul. But, I would have to get up every day and lug that secret around with me. Yet, Bianca would be safe and happy. I knew not telling was the right thing to do, and, for maybe the first time in my life, I did the right thing.

**Bianca's POV**

Light flooded through the tent, blinding me. I was glad that the night was over and that I could finally go home, well to my temporary home, but I really needed to call somewhere home right then. I opened my eyes, expecting to see a bright orange tent and my packed bag, ready for me to take it away.

My eyes fluttered open to a sight I did not expect at all. All I saw was a blinding white light with darkness surrounding it. I put my hand up to my face, trying to protect them from the light. The light shone away and Miranda stood above me. She looked powerful, standing so tall. "Get up." she ordered, "Now."

I didn't know what else to do but slip out of my sleeping bag and stand by her side. "Now, come with me." she instructed. She crouched down by the exit and unzipped half the opening. Annabeth stirred and Miranda froze, she gave me a glare that said you-better-stop-moving-or-I'll-beat-the-crap-out-of-you. I froze.

"Guys," Annabeth squeaked, "What are you doing?" Miranda spoke up before I could stop her. "Oh, it's nothing" she insisted, "We're just going to the bathroom." Annabeth stretched and mumbled, "Oh, that's cool. Have fun." before she rolled over and fell back asleep. I stepped onto the wet grass, annoyed. "You just wanted me to get up so I could come to the bathroom with you?" I whispered, annoyed.

Miranda rolled her eyes and blew a puff of air out of her cheeks. "It's called a little white lie." she stated, "It's nothing personal." She led me to the back corner of Annabeth's yard, where a tree house sat. I followed her, now scared, up the splintery ladder and through the opening of the small wooden house. She plopped down on a blue foldable chair and glared at me.

"What?" I snapped, feeling a sudden boost of confidence. "Sit." she ordered, gesturing to the floor in front of her. My confidence was now gone. I sat down, feeling like a child in front of her teacher, the teacher who was strict and who no one wanted to mess with. "I'm sure you don't know what this is about." she stated.

I squirmed in my spot on the floor. The wooden planks made my butt itch and my feet were wet and cold, with bits of grass sticking to them. "You're right." I answered, "I don't know what this is about. Can you inform me?" She flipped her hair to one side and began a side braid.

"When I first saw you, I didn't want to believe it was you." she breathed, "You looked oddly familiar and I got a weird sense of déjà vu when I first passed you in the hall. I tried to brush it off, convince myself I was crazy and it was nothing. But, I was right, it _was_ something." I was really confused, I had no idea what she was referring to.

"Do you see what I'm getting at?" she asked. I shook my head and looked at the tan floor. "Of course not." she huffed, "I guess I'll have to simplify it for you. Several months ago, me, my boyfriend, and my family went on a cruise to visit my grandparents in Germany. Following?" I nodded and looked at her tan face.

She continued, "You see, we took a little pit stop in Spain. My siblings wanted to go to a nearby carnival so me and my boyfriend, Jack, stayed behind. We went to a local bar instead. Now, this is where it gets really interesting. We were chatting and having a few drinks when this depressed girl walks in. She has, God knows how many drinks, and just sits there. Twenty something minutes later, my phone rings, a nyan cat ringtone, to be precise."

Suddenly, a memory popped into my head, a low, taunting, repetitive, musical cat sound. It was all coming back to me, now.

"I tell Jack I'll be a minute and I walk into the bathroom. It's my mom, calling from across the street." Miranda continued as I snapped back to reality, "She says that my sister, Jean, wants to go on a tea cup ride but she needs someone to go with her. My mom, you see, gets incredibly dizzy and she can't go on spin rides. Same with my dad. Jean had been a great sister that trip, so I kissed Jack a quick goodbye and told him that I would be right back.

I remember the ride, around and around, I saw the same scene spin for two minutes until I staggered off the ride. I had to sit down for a minute, because I felt wickedly nauseas. Before I knew it, it was an hour later by the time I got back to the bar. And guess what Jack was long gone. When he came back on the cruise that night, he told me what happened. He told me what he and the depressed girl did. I hope you know what I'm talking about by now."

Sadly, I did. Unwanted memories flooded back to me, memories that I hoped would be locked up forever. I remember walking into the stingy bar, it smelled of stale beer and vodka. I wasn't in any mood to think, so I had a few beers that turned into whiskey that turned into vodka.

The whole world looked as if everything was moving in slow motion, and I still had a hard time processing what was going on. I vaguely remember a loving couple out of the corner of my eye. They were pointing and whispering, it seemed like the whole bar was pointing and whispering.

So, I downed another shot. That was when the music started, it started of quiet and grew louder and louder. Mew, mew, mew, mewmew, mew, mew, mewmew. It sounded like a virtual cat singing. The girl looked at her phone and ran into the bathroom. She came back a little while later after the boy winked at me. She gave him a kiss and ran out the door. He moved closer to me and flirted with me. I downed one last shot and the world was black.

The only thing I remembered was walking up in a ratty hotel bed with a man next to me, and running back to my current home. I put the pieces together in my head. Miranda was the girl, Jack was the boy, and they were dating. Oh, shit.

"So," Miranda interrupted my thoughts, "I know that you know what I want you to know. I hope you understand why I want revenge. You have to do everything I say or I tell everyone your secret. I'll make sure the whole state knows, if that what it takes. I'll start out in the school, move to your family, and maybe I'll drive around in a car around California screaming it into a megaphone."

My stomach dropped and my head reeled. "Why?" I squealed, "Are you really that mad?" She shook her head and muttered, "You have no idea how mad I am." she stated, "Me and Jack were the perfect couple before you destroyed our love." I had enough, I had to argue back, "Just so you know," I informed, "Jack flirted with me. As soon as you walked out the door he sat next to me and flirted with me."

"I think you were too wasted to remember anything." she argued back. "Well, I recognized what you were explaining in your story. I remember that!" I lowered my voice back down to a whisper, "You are just pissed that Jack flirted with me as soon as you were gone. You won't admit that he liked me better than you in the first hour of our meeting." Something creaked outside and we both froze. Footsteps sounded from outside the tree house. Annabeth stood in the door frame. "What the hell are you guys doing in here?" she questioned, "I thought you had to go to the bathroom."

"We did," Miranda lied, "We just wanted to chat without waking anyone so we came in here." Annabeth looked unbelieving but she shrugged and muttered, "Alright, then. Enjoy the rest of your chat." I spoke up, "Oh, we were just finishing up, isn't that right, Miranda?" Miranda had no choice but to nod and go back into the tent with us.

After we were all settled in our sleeping bags, Miranda began to real-snore. Annabeth quickly turned over to face me. She leaned close and whispered, "Don't worry; I got your whole conversation on tape." She shook her phone and smirked. I smirked too because I knew Miranda was going to get busted.

**A/N/: I am so so so so so so so sorry that I didn't update sooner! School is a lot of work now, with the new school year. This chapter is in honor of The Mark of Athena, which came out today. Please follow, favorite, rate, and review! I hope I get the next chapter in faster! :D**


	14. Forget It

**Forget It**

**Annabeth's POV**

After Miranda left to go to the bathroom with Bianca, I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. I was glad that the two were getting along. The scene of them walking out the tent played over in my mind. I realized that Bianca looked, not scared, but kind of unsure. Like when you re between two answers on a test and you know that it's either A or B and you just don't know which one.

My eyes shot open. Would Miranda do anything to her? I didn't know, and I didn't want to find out. Bianca was my project and I was going to keep her safe. I quietly shrugged out of my sleeping bag and slowly unzipped the tent, notch by notch. Once it was open enough for me to fit through, I poked my head out. I heard murmurs coming from Bobby and Matthew's tree house.

I grabbed my phone and got out of the tent. They obviously couldn't go to the bathroom in the tree house, could they? I pushed the thought away. I sneaked across the yard; the wet grass tickled my feet and made them cold. I pushed hair out of my face and opened a voice record app. I pushed the red dot and it began to record. The little timer went from 00:01 to 00:02. I tucked the phone into my bra, which I had kept on for the night, and slipped up the steps.

I placed my feet on the ledge on the side of the little house. Luckily, a rope was tied to the roof so I grasped on to it. I crouched under the hole in the side that was meant to be a window and held my phone up to catch their conversation. It didn't sound pretty. I also didn't want to interrupt, because if Miranda was going to say something rude, or cruel, I wanted it recorded.

After a minute or two, I figured I had all the information I needed. I felt bad for Bianca, who was taking it all in and I wanted to end the conversation. I ended the timer and walked to the doorway.

**Bianca's POV**

Once again, light flooded through the tent. Behind my eyelids, I saw various shades of red. I was happy to find that it was real sunlight and not a flashlight aimed at my face. My brain took a spin, remembering the events of last night.

I rubbed my eyes and slowly sat up. I stretched my arms towards the roof of the tent and yawned. I looked around the tent. Everyone was sleeping, luckily. I needed some alone time. I quietly got out of the warmth of my sleeping bag and crawled onto the silky surface. My hands were cold so I rubbed them together to try to create some source of warmth.

Thalia moaned from the other side of the tent where she was nestled in her sleeping bag. I watched her rub her eyes and sit up, groggily. "What time is it?" she grumbled. Her shocking blue eyes were hidden behind her squinty eyelids and her black hair was sticking up in every position. I grabbed Annabeth's orange phone from the floor and hit the talk button. The screen lit up with life, revealing the time; 9:12.

"It's 9:12." I responded and Thalia groaned again, flopping back into a sleeping position. Her face was buried in her pillow. "Why are you up so early?" she grumbled, her voice muffled from the pillow. I was always up early, and nine o'clock for me was late. I shrugged and switched to the lotus position since my feet were getting numb. I put Annabeth's phone back to its old position.

As soon as I settled, Katie shot up from her sleeping bag screaming, "No! Not the giraffes!" Thalia and I looked at her like she had three heads. Her cheeks and ears turned pink with embarrassment. "I guess I have a new found love for giraffes." she shrugged.

Annabeth sat up in her sleeping bag while rubbing her eyes with her fists. "Oh my god," she yawned, "I'm so tired." Miranda started to stir. I held my breath and a shiver went through my body. She slowly sat up and yawned. "Morning, ladies." she breathed and crossed her legs. Everyone except me responded, "Morning."

I heard fumbling outside the tent, and double held my breath. We all faced towards the opening and froze. The tent unzipped and a little boy jumped in screaming, "RAWR!" The girls all jumped and squealed. "Godammit, Bobby!" Annabeth scowled and pushed him out. He poked his head back in, "Aww," he moaned, "I thought you would be changing!" Annabeth fumed and pushed him out again, "Leave, pervert." she instructed.

As soon as we heard him walk back inside the house we all relaxed a bit. "Sorry about my idiot brother." Annabeth apologized, "I have something to say before you all leave. A lot was revealed last night, and I want you to know that your secrets are safe with me. I hope everyone else feels the same way." Then, we all went around in a circle saying something that indicated that our secrets are safe with each other.

"Also," Annabeth continued, "Some things were very big secrets and I think we should just forget it. Just drop the whole thing, the entire night, if that's what it takes." We all nodded in unison, messy hair swishing around.

When I finally got back to my house, I took a deep breath. Even though Miranda was going to possibly blackmail me, my life seemed pretty great, right then.

**A/N: I have some big news, everyone! I am going to start a new series! It's about what it would be like if the demigods went to rehab, nice right? ;) I, of course, will keep up with this one, and both stories may be a little slow for a bit. So, sorry about the super-short chapter, and rate, review, follow, and favorite!**


	15. The E-Mail

**The E-Mail**

**Bianca's POV**

The rest of the day all I did was lie around and make Nico food. After I cooked up a quick pot of soup, both Nico and I sat down at our splintery dining room table. "So," I started, trying to begin a conversation, "How's school so far, is everything alright?" He froze with his spoon of hot broth halfway to his mouth. I sensed something bad happened. "Do you want to talk about it?" He shivered as the bad memory crept up on him. Nico nodded and placed his spoon back in the ceramic bowl.

"You see," he began, "School has never been easy for me. It's not just the work, which is bad enough already, but it's the people that get me. I try my best to blend in or hide in everyone's shadows, but they always seem to find me. When they do, they're never nice. They pick on me and call me names like; emo, Goth, freak, death dude. It's really annoying. That's just the beginning. So, these kids all think I'm a weirdo, right? Anyway, prom is coming up and there was this really _hot_, uh I mean pretty girl. I wanted to show the school that I could be tough and cool and ask her out. Little did I know that she was the leader of the popular clan, a sophomore, and had a boyfriend. So her boyfriend pushed me against the wall and the group walked away laughing."

As bad as his story was, I was proud that he tried to ask someone out, at lease he was interested in people. I couldn't help but hug him and kiss him on the cheek. "I'm so proud of you Nico!" I smothered, "You finally asked a girl out!" He made a retching noise and choked out, "Bianca, you're worse than mom, get off." I knew that he secretly liked it. "So," he blurted, "Now what?" I smiled. "Now," I stated, "We are _going_ to get you a date!" He blushed a deep red. "No, Bianca." he pleaded, "You _really_ do _not_ need to do that." I grinned even bigger and tilted my head, "Don't worry." I told him, "I'll fix it." And with that, I strutted into my room.

When I got in, I was in for a big surprise. My laptop on my chipping desk flashed. "**New E-Mail! New E-Mail!**" It blinked. I slid into the hard woven chair and clicked on the open button. There was indeed a new e-mail. It was titled _To Do, _like a day list for forgetful grandmas. It was from anonymous. At first I was thrilled. I thought it would be from Annabeth, Thalia, or maybe even my old boyfriend. Of course, I was wrong. I was terribly, truly, a thousand times more wrong then I had ever been in my entire life. When it opened, the same to do title stared at me along with numbered tasks. To my fear, it was from Miranda. I was sure from the writing style, and, as stupid as she was, she wrote, "_Luv, Miranda_" at the bottom.

I read the e-mail. The things she wanted me to do were awful.

_Tell Annabeth that Percy cheated on her (make it happen)_

_Flash Mr. Poland, the young science teacher (not with a camera!)_

_Pull the fire alarm at 2:12, (I have a math test I need to get out of)_

_Go in the boy's bathroom and threaten to rape someone while you're there_

_Embarrass your little brother in front of the whole school_

_Wear a see-through top to school and pretend that you don't know what's going on _

_And if you don't do all of the following before the day after prom, I guess I'll just have to kill you. Plus, if I miss and event, you'll just have to do it again. I hope you fail._

My whole body shook. I needed to tell someone, anyone. Not Nico, he had enough issues. Definitely not my parents. Oh, I had Annabeth's e-mail in my bag! I shuffled through my backpack until I found the scrap of paper. I typed the address into the sending bar and forwarded it to her with a message telling her that it was from me. I flopped down on my bed and angled my head towards my alarm clock. It was already eight o'clock. I had done nothing all day. I was so worn out from the crazy events that happened the past couple of days; I passed out with my clothes on.

I opened my crusty eyes. My head spun and an aggravating bleeping noise came from my computer. I had another new e-mail. I sat up and my head spun. I put my cold hands on my face and yawned. T.G.I.S., thank god it's Saturday. I don't think I would've been able to take on a day of school, anyway. I stumbled over to my computer that had finally stopped beeping. I plopped into the chair and stared at the screen. Looking at a computer at six in the morning probably isn't good for anyone. Luckily, the mail was from Annabeth. It said:

_Uh-oh, that's bad news. But don't worry because I have a plan. Meet me at Starbucks around 1:00. I'll explain more there. Until then, see you soon!_

_xo, Annabeth_

I figured that she needed some thanks so I sent her one back:

_Thanks, Annabeth. You're a lifesaver. _

_~Bianca_

Something suddenly clicked in my brain. What was Annabeth doing up at six a.m.? I didn't want to get in on her life but it was the morning and my body was on auto-pilot. I added in a two new sentences.

_Thanks, Annabeth. You're a lifesaver. I don't mean to be nosy, but what are you doing up at six? You said last night that you liked to sleep in?_

_~Bianca_

I hit enter and the e-mail sent. I was planning on sitting at the computer, waiting for the response, but Nico burst into my room. "Hey, Biancs." he said, giving me a new nickname, "Are you planning on breakfast anytime soon?" I looked at him. "Nico," I began, "It's six o'clock." He gave me a "duh" expression, "Yeah," he continued, "But you're up, too, and I'm hungry." I sighed and followed him into the kitchen. "You're a great sister." he announced. I grinned, "I know." I replied while taking out the blue Styrofoam carton of eggs.

**A/N: I'm so so so so so so so so sorry! I have been super busy with school. Ever since 'The Mark of Athena' came out I've been reading in my free time instead of writing and I apologize, dearly. I am also working on two series at a time, so this is difficult for me. You know what to do! Until next chapter, goodbye! :D**


	16. Realization

**Realization**

**Thalia's POV**

I guess you could say that Annabeth and I got into a little disagreement. Ah, screw that, we were yelling our heads off at each other. I don't mean to sound like a four year old, but Annabeth definitely started it. It was her fault that she called me at five thirty in the morning to ask me if she should wear light or dark brown eye-shadow to the prom. Just in case you didn't know, I am not a morning person and if you wake me up before noon, I am one grumpy girl. I told her to worry about it in the morning but she insisted on my opinion.

"Light brown." I grumbled.

"Really, you think? I was thinking dark because it would make my dress pop a bit more, don't you think?" Annabeth chattered.

"Sure, whatever makes you happy."

"You see, whatever shade is better makes me happy. So dark brown?"

"Yeah, sure."

"But you said light brown, right? Would that blend better with my dress?"

"Annabeth, I am so tired, just go the fuck to sleep."

"But I can't sleep unless I pick a brown. Now, would a more woodsy brown be good but that may make it look too cow-girlish, don't you thi-"

"I don't think anything right now; I am trying to go to sleep _in bed_."

"So you are falling asleep while giving me advice? That's a little rude if you're not giving me accurate advice."

"Well maybe you should stop acting like a brat and thank me for even answering the phone at this time of day."

I know, I know. That _was_ a little mean and rude, but she was asking for it! I was sleep deprived and my brain doesn't fully work until two p.m. so it slipped out. And that is where all hell broke loose.

"Uh, excuse me? You did not just call me that!" she screeched.

"Well I did, so deal." I snapped.

"You have been no help to me today!"

"The day hasn't even begun, and I have done so much for you!"

"Sure, sure. Give me some examples."

"One: I took you shopping. Two: I befriended you when no one else would. And three: I made you what you are today, and I regret it!"

"You did not _make me_!"

"Oh yes I did! I gave you advice and pushed you harder and now you're popular and everyone likes you for once!"

"Uh, for _once_?"

"Before I made you popular, you were the biggest loser in the _whole school_!"

"Take that back!"

"I won't because it's true! I also regret helping you because all you've turned into is a spoiled brat!"

"It's not like you aren't one, too!"

"I am so not a spoiled brat!"

"But you're popular now, like me!"

"Do you want to change that?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I can take away your popularity just as fast as I gave it to you. I could _ruin_ you!"

"Well, then. Let's see how that works out, then."

"Fine. Game on, bitch."

And that's pretty much where we left off. There is a really sad part about the fight, though. I meant every damn word I said to her. And to take her down, I already had a plan. A good one. A plan that could demolish her entire reputation forever. A plan so devious that even her family wouldn't want to look at her. And I was as sure as hell that I would get my revenge.

**Annabeth's POV**

Thalia is a megabitch. I cannot _believe _she just told me that she created me. I created me! I'm myself! Isn't that all you learn about in cheesy assemblies in elementary school? Anyway, I had much bigger problems to deal with. After I paced my room for a half-hour, cursing Thalia under my breath, my laptop bleated. I plopped down on my bed and placed the computer on my lap, thankful for a distraction. Unfortunately, the distraction was not appealing. Bianca had sent me a forwarded e-mail she had received from Miranda. God damn Miranda was threatening poor Bianca. I needed to do something about it. I needed a plan.

I automatically began to think of a brilliant idea to expose Miranda. Oddly, my brain works best in the morning. _Well,_ I thought to myself, _if Miranda knows a lot about Bianca and her life, she must do her thinking and planning somewhere. If I can find the evidence, she'd be exposed. Maybe she has a spiral notebook full of diagrams and notes. She could have a white board deep in her basement with plans scrawled all over it. Or maybe she even has an entire room with pictures and articles hanging on the walls with strings stretched out connecting pictures and Xs crossing out Bianca's eyes. _

I had to stop myself there. I was looking way too ahead of things. I was lucky if Miranda even had a composition book with a single word about Bianca in it. I took a deep breath and continued to think. _So, in order to find any information about Miranda and her hatred of Bianca, I will have to sneak into her house and search._ I flipped open the school district's phone book and jotted down Miranda's address, phone number, and parents names on a swirly green spiral notebook.

_If I'm going to sneak in, I'll need a plan; Bianca and her parents are currently the only people living in her house. Her house is pretty small, but it'd take at least an hour to search it thoroughly with no interruptions. All I need is an entrance to the house when it's locked, an easy escape route, and for everyone to be out of the house. First, I will need to scope out the house and figure out where the rooms are located and make a diagram. Then, I'll have to find the way into the house. And finally, I'd find a clear escape path out and then I'd search the house. Genius._

I quickly e-mailed Bianca back, telling her to meet me at Starbucks at 1:00. I desperately needed the time. After I sent it I crashed on my bed and fell asleep for a good six hours. When I woke up, I finished writing in my notebook. I drew an empty model of a house, to fill in Miranda's house's information. I jotted down crappy ideas and plans to get into the house under the model, I liked to plan ahead. I tried to slow myself down; we were only spying into her house today, no need to rush. We still had Sunday. I didn't want to misplace the notebook so I took out a blue sharpie and wrote "Project Weasel" on the front. I know, I know, weird name, but it makes sense if you really think about it, Bianca and I are weaseling our ways into Miranda's business. I could've titled it something cooler but then I couldn't be walking around with it because people would get suspicious. Besides that, at 12:54 I headed out to Starbucks to meet up with Bianca.

When I got there, she was already sitting at a circular table in the back of the store I ordered a black coffee and sat across from her. "Awesome, you're here." she trilled. Bianca's eyes were slightly bloodshot and had dark bags under them. She looked way too excited to see me, like she was anticipating this meeting for weeks. "Hey." I chirped, "So, let's get down to business." I slapped the notebook onto the table and flipped to the first page as I sipped my bitter coffee.

Just as I was about to tell Bianca my plan, the door noisily banged open, letting in a flood of swimmer boys. The laughed and bumped into each other. A swimmer with a buzz cut and a swimmer hoodie pointed to me and Bianca. "Look, we've got some lesbians here!" he shouted. His buddies laughed. "No way, man." another said, "They are _way_ too hot to be Lesbos." Next, some guy in the back wolf-whistled. There was a slight commotion in the back and a shorter boy protruded from the crowd. His sparkly sea-green eyes lit up when he saw me. He shot a glare at his swimmer friends. "That's my girlfriend, you asses." he snapped. Percy walked over to me and pecked me on the lips. The same guy wolf-whistled again and the crowd hustled over to the line and started ordering beverages and pastries.

"It's been awhile." he stated. "You doing anything on Sunday? Maybe we can hang out, I mean, if that's cool with you and all." I laughed at his unease, at the sound of my laugh he seemed to loosen up a bit. "Of course, Percy." I replied, "Meet me at the fountain in the park at five. Don't be late." He ran his hand through his beautiful hair and smiled, "Kay. See you." he responded and strode back over to his buds that gave him noogies and patted his back. Men; always so physical. I patiently waited for them to leave until I told Bianca my plan. She nodded and gazed at my drawings. When I finished, she had some questions;

"So, Miranda is an only child?" she asked.

"Yep." I replied.

"How are we going to get in?"

"I was thinking about making a copy of her key."

"How?"

"I don't know yet."

"When are we starting our investigation?"

"How about now?"

"Okay."

I shouldered my bag and sipped my steaming coffee. In my bag, I had a disposable camera, a video camera, binoculars, my phone, pencils, Chapstick, and my notebook. Everything I had was perfect for a stake-out. We rode in my car to Miranda's house. There were no cars parked in the bumpy driveway, but the lights were on. "Where should we start?" Bianca asked, looking the house over. It was a small house, white sloppy paint and green shutters. I spotted a large oak tree with stumpy braches protruding from every angle. The tree was perfectly planted right by a lit up window. "Follow me." I ordered. I stalked over to the broad tree and began climbing the sappy branches. My hands were sore and sticky by the time I got to the window. I was so close, I didn't need binoculars. I shielded the sun from my eyes and peered in.

I almost fell out of the Goddamn tree. Sitting criss-cross applesauce on a pink and orange oval rug was Miranda. She had prescription pills and various plastic bags full of different drugs surrounding her. She was facing me but her eyes were closed. She picked up a bag with a powdery substance in it and gave it a big sniff. I whipped out my video camera and began recording. Miranda rolled over and began clawing her rug. She shakily stood up and banged her head against the wall. She screamed and hurtled herself onto her bed. I felt sick.

Had she been doing drugs the night of my sleepover? Was she always high? Or was this her first time? I actually felt bad for her; drugs are a real issue for people. Even if she wanted to do them, I still felt for her. "What's going on?" Bianca whispered. I didn't have to answer. She looked into the window and gasped. The branch her foot was resting on broke with a loud crack. She instinctively gripped the branches her was holding onto tighter and replaced her foot onto another branch. The branch made a loud swooshing noise as it fell and landed with a _thwump._ I held my breath. Miranda had heard the crack. She was glaring at me and Bianca now.

"GAAAAAAHHHHH!" Miranda screamed and opened the window. She clutched a cold, bony hand around my wrist and pulled me closer to her. The camera fell from my grasp and landed in the grass with a soft _thump_. I shrieked and slipped towards her. "Annabeth!" Bianca cried and grabbed onto my other hand. I tried with all my might to pull away from Miranda but the drugs she'd been using apparently gave her a lot of adrenaline. She pulled me through the window. I tumbled in and rolled onto the carpet and into a different bag of powder. The drug flew up in a puff and blinded me. I coughed and coughed and rubbed my eyes. I felt Miranda's hands clasp around my neck. I brought my knees up to my chest and then kicked her off onto the floor. I tried to get back to the tree but she pulled my ankle back. Her face had claw marks on it and her fingernails had blood in them.

_This is a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream._ I tried telling myself, but everything was all too real; Miranda's blood on the floor, the burn in my throat, Bianca's cries for help, the throb in my neck. I reached into my bag, trying not to pass out. I fumbled around while Miranda punched my back, I clutched the hard metal binoculars and pulled them out. I rolled onto my back and threw them at Miranda's head. A loud clunk rung in my ears and Miranda fell to the floor. I dragged myself out of the room and stumbled down the stairs. I couldn't climb back down the tree in my condition. I was panting and I felt dizzy. I ran to the back door, tripping over my own feet.

I fumbled for the lock and turned the bronze handle. I opened the door and took a whiff of fresh air. I tried to walk back to where Bianca was but I tumbled onto the grass. I was too weak to move. I tried to get myself up but My arms turned to jelly. I saw a fading picture of Bianca running towards me and the faint sounds of police sirens wailing from the distance before I completely blacked out.

**A/N: I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am. I haven't updated in FOREVER! I have so much work to do now, and I have been outside in all my free time. Again, I apologize greatly. So, for my apology, I have given you a 2,349 word chapter. You're welcome.**

**Now, I would like everyone to READ THIS PLEASE! This story is a fun story that I like to write for you guys in my free time, right? Now, I know that there are no (if not very few) high schools that do have this much drama in them. This is just a fun thing to read and enjoy. A guilty pleasure. So please do not call me rude names and say that I "have just created another stereotypical high school" because I know that this doesn't happen and I'm trying to do something nice and contribute to one of my favorite websites. Thank you.**

**So, please review your ideas, if you have any, and tell me what you thought about it. Thank you so so so so so so so sososososososososososososo much for patiently waiting for this chapter. Later, gators!**


	17. Déjà vu

**Déjà vu **

**Annabeth's POV**

I kept flashing in and out of reality. One minute EMTs were putting me on a stretcher, the next, I was riding in a banana down a sundae hill. The things drugs can make you see. People say that drugs are bad, but you are supposed to feel good when you use them. For me, that statement is very false. Maybe it was the fact that I was inhaling and choking on the drugs, but I hated every minute of it. The world was zooming in and out and spinning, oh, the spinning was the worst part. Have you ever spun around in circles for what feels like forever until you crash to the ground? Then as you lay there, on the floor, the whole room spins around you? Then, one you try to stand up, your feet and legs freak out because they think that they are still spinning and you fall again and you feel nauseous and tired? Well, multiply that experience by twenty-five and you're there.

It was excruciating to walk, and I pushed through every second of it. Anyway, when I arrived in the hospital, I was already passed out. Bianca said that they hooked me up to an oxygen tank and stuck needles in my arms. When I woke up, I still felt like I was spinning. I also felt like the room was pressing in on me, like something was pressing me flat. I wearily sat up and took a deep breath. I looked around the room and jumped. The hospital bed squeaked in protest and my blue hospital gown crinkled. Bad memories of the last time I was in a hospital flooded back, the gunshot rung in my ears. _POW. POW. POW. _I covered my ears but the sound wouldn't stop. I flipped onto my stomach and put my pillow over my head. The noise wouldn't stop. I pulled the sheets over my head and covered my ears. The gunshot still sounded, loud and clear.

A nurse in blue scrubs came rushing in. "Darling?" she calls to me, "Babe, are you alright?" I could hardly hear her. The shots inside my head were so loud that it was blinding, the only thing I could see were bright flashes of light and a fading picture of at least seven doctors and nurses fumbling around the room. The last thing I remembered was a sharp prick of a needle into my forearm and the sounds of my own screams drowned out by worried shouts of directions from frantic nurses and questions from my family and friends.

**A/N: Super-duper short chapter here. I typed it up but I still need to think about what's gonna happen next and I didn't want you to wait for a long time so here it is!**


	18. Mistakes

**Mistakes**

**Thalia's POV**

Ahh, I had never been so excited about a Monday. From the second I opened my eyes to see the bright Monday light, and smelled the sweet Monday morning, I was ready to start the day. Oh, why was I so excited about a fucking Monday? You see, my dear friend, it was a very special Monday, the Monday where I began my beautiful sabotage for my ex-best friend, Annabeth Chase. When I giddily strolled though the front doors to hang up my brilliant posters, I soon realized that dear Annabeth was not in school. "Oh well," I thought to myself, "the posters would still be a hit tomorrow, assuming that no one would rip them down."

I rushed to put my untouched homework and textbooks in my locker. I was too busy with my fantastic posters; I didn't have time for schoolwork. After I crammed everything in, I pulled my hound's-tooth duck tape, black scissors, and cherry lollipop out of my locker and slammed it shut. I popped the sweet, artificial, candy into my lip-sticked mouth, throwing the wrapper on the floor. With the posters under my arm, supplies in hand, and lollipop in mouth, I headed off to start phase one of my Plan.

With my lollipop clacking around in my mouth, I found the perfect spot for my first poster, right in front of the boy's bathroom. It was the perfect spot, all the boys who loved her would see it, and the principal and teachers wouldn't. Fool proof. I snipped off four long shiny strips of duck tape and with my opposite hand, held the poster to the bumpy wall. I stuck one piece of tape to each side and pressed out the air bubbles. I stood back and admired my work. The poster looked awesome, if I do say so myself. I blew up a picture of Annabeth with a cheesy smile on her face holding both thumbs up. Next to it, I had written; Certified Molester, in big red letters. I couldn't help but giggle at my masterpiece. **(A/N: blew up; as in enlarged)**

As I marched away, ready to hang up more of my sweet posters, a crowd of girls read my work of art and began hysterically laughing. Some even took pictures. I rounded the bend of the hallway and dropped my supplies on the floor so I could set up another poster when I got an unexpected text message. It was from Drew, who had the entire school in her contact list and had sent the text to every one of them. It was a picture of the poster with a caption, "cheers to Thalia! Luv that gurl." I smiled and a warm felling spread from my chest. What was it; it was so absent all this time? Ah, it was pride. Pride in a cruel thing I had done to another person, but of course, it was only fair at the time. As I strolled through the halls hanging up posters with Annabeth making dumb faces with captions such as; "I'll rape your family! Call me, my number is (123)-456-7890! I watch you sleep! I've slept with so many boys; I lost count, especially because I'm blonde!" I knew the last one would get to her the most since she hates all stereo-types. Oops. Shoot me.

When I was done, I took my time getting back to my locker; I didn't care if I was late to homeroom. I plucked my needed books for my first classes from my green locker and giddily pranced into my homeroom. People I didn't know slapped me on the back and gave me high-fives. I got so much praise, I couldn't remember my life without it. The noise died down when my grumpy homeroom teacher, 164 year old Mrs. Regahb, shuffled into the room wearing a red flowered dress and sat at her desk with a steaming cup of black coffee. I leaned back in my seat and absorbed the attention. I snapped up when my Noika buzzed. I pulled it out of my pocket and checked the message, it was from Percy. Why the hell would he text me? I wondered as I opened the message. When it loaded, I gasped. It said, "Annabeth is in the hospital. Long story. Come fast. She's freaking out and the doctors don't know what's wrong. They're taking her to a mental hospital." Percy must have not known Annabeth and I weren't speaking.

"Holy shit!" a random jock shouted behind me. I rapidly pressed the close button, but the screen froze. "Annabeth Chase is being taken to a mental hospital!" I tried to jam the large phone in my pocket with stiff fingers, but it clattered to the floor along with my lollipop that now left a sickening taste in my mouth. The whole class grabbed for my phone and took a good look. The nauseating sound of the virtual bell rang for five seconds as the last person holding my phone tossed it to the ground. I gingerly picked it up and shoved it in my pocket. Crap. This was my entire fault. If I hadn't hung up posters, or fought with Annabeth, or brought my phone to class, it might've never happened. I stepped into the hall where the news was spreading like wildfire. Different stories about how she was getting put in a mental hospital floated around. "She probably is just pregnant from that swimmer Guy." stated a blond Juicy girl. "I bet she did drugs." said a brunette, walking up behind her.

I couldn't stand the rumors and pain anymore. I wanted to see Annabeth. I fumbled with my locked and jammed my books roughly into the metal locker. I slammed it shut and ran for the first set of doors I saw. "Oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit." I was thinking the whole time. Now Annabeth and I might never make up. I sprinted to my car and when I saw the condition it was in, I nearly dropped dead.

**A/N: Hhhm, what happens? I just really HAD to post on 12/12/12. I hope you enjoyed this exhilarating chapter! Please drop ideas and I promise I will put them in the story!**


	19. Damn It

**A special thanks to Moomoogirl240, for her inspiring comment: **I feel like i want to f*ckin KILL thalia when she did that! Shes such a b*tch now, at least she felt bad about it. Still, that sucks. I litterally started crying at this, and that just proves how awesome this story is! How dare you leave m me at a cliffy like that! I love this soooo much, you know a story is good if it makes you get emotional, and I sure did get emotional, VERY emotional! You are an amazing writer! Please update!  
CatTheMooCow240

**Damn It**

**Percy's POV**

I stood with my head pressed against the cold, white, bumpy wall. I tried to take deep breaths. "She's fine." I told myself, "It's all going to work out." My calming session was interrupted by the ping of my blue-cased cell phone. Even though the volume was only on one, the sharp ping rang out through the endless, empty hallways of the hospital. The air was musty and it smelled like a stomach turning mixture of rubber gloves, plastic, oatmeal, and a familiar smell of the hospital cafeteria. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket while I peeled my head off the wall. It was a message from Drew. I still had her number from when Rachel plugged in all of her friends numbers. Most of them started texting me as soon as she gave them my number and I had to block them. I opened the file attached to the message that read: "cheers to Thalia. luv that gurl!" My slow phone took three seconds to load the file. When it popped up, I almost fell onto the sticky hospital floor.

It was of a cruel poster of Annabeth holding two thumbs up. The photo might've been cute if "Certified Molester" wasn't scrawled next to it in big, bold letters. Hot white anger swelled in my chest as I 'replied to all'. "What the fuck is your problem?" I texted, "This isn't funny! Get a life!" I angrily tapped my foot and scowled at the screen, waiting for a dumbass reply from Drew, Rachel, anyone. Eventually, my phone pinged again and I rapidly opened the message. It was from Drew. "Don't blame me, u dick, it was all Thalia. Didn't u read the caption? I'm just spreading the word." Thalia. What the fuck was her problem? I thought her and Annabeth were best friends….oh _shit_. I remembered that I told her to come over. Damn it! How stupid can a guy get? I should've called her and she could've told me. Maybe we could've hung out and she wouldn't have had to go to Miranda's house for whatever reason.

I rushed over to the window to see if Thalia was here yet. As if it was planned, her car rolled into an empty spot. The car looked like eggs, shaving cream, and paint had a war all over it. The front windshield had several eggs crushed onto the glass, there were smiley faces, hearts, and stars drawn all over in paint and shaving cream. There were phrases such as "Thalia is a boss", "Go Thales!", "Thalia is a bitch", and "Thalia should fuck herself because…" But the ending was smeared off. Without thinking, I ran down four flights of stairs to meet her when she came in. I wanted to give her a piece of my mind as soon as possible. When I reached the bottom, she was entering through the revolving door. Her face was paler than normal and she had dark smears all over her face from her dripping mascara. I stomped right up to her and shouted, "What the fuck is your problem?!" Thalia, being her, yelled right back at me. "You know what, Percy?! Maybe you should go fuck yourself because you don't even know my motives!" At this point, we were causing a ruckus. Two burly security guards grabbed each of us by the arms and hauled us into a small interrogation room. At least that was what it looked like.

The room was a mixture of an interrogation room and a pre-school. People probably came in here to talk about their problems, cry, or both. In this case, it was used for two teenagers to yell their heads off at each other and not be a distraction to the patients. "You can talk in here." one of the guards told us. "Just don't get to loud." the other stated. And with that, they marched out of the room. I sat in the blue chair and Thalia sat in the orange one that was facing me. "Why?" I asked. I didn't say anything else; I just wanted to know why she would do such a mean thing to Annabeth. She looked at me with round, teary, electric blue eyes. "You wanna know why, Percy, well I'll tell you why." she started, "We got in a fight on the phone when she called me early in the morning. One thing led to another and she, well we both called each other some pretty mean names. And, damn it. I was mad, okay? I really shouldn't have done it and you might not be able to tell, but I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. It was dumb, it was fucking retarded, actually and I wished I never did it. I just wish I could tell her I was sorry."

"You know why guys are better than girls?" I inquired. She cocked her head to the side. "Because when we fight, we both call each other names, than we slap each other on the back and go grab a beer." Thalia sighed, but she cracked a smile.

"You ruined the moment." she stated.

"That's what I do best."

"So, what now?"

"We wait."

"Annabeth is getting sent to a fucking mental hospital, how could we just wait?"

"I just told you that so you would come."

"Stop. You're joking."

"No, I'm not, what's the big deal?"

"Uh, a jock read my text and then I dropped my phone and by now the whole school thinks she's going to a mental hospital."

"Damn it."

"Oh, shit."

**A/N: *Insert dramatic 'duns' here* OOOOHHHHH! What's gonna happen next? I know it's short but I want to post on New Year's Eve and I'm busy tomorrow and it's my last day of break, so I wanted to post for you. **** Plus, I thought a cliffy would be a nice way to end it…tee hee hee. HAPPY NEW YEAR, MY BITCHES! (sorry if that was offensive, I've just always wanted to say that)**


	20. Inside Percy's Mind

**Inside Percy's Mind**

**Percy's POV**

I was next in line to visit Annabeth. When she woke up, I was supposed to be the very first one to see her, to hold her hand, to tell her everything was alright. But it didn't happen. I knew it wouldn't happen. I had a feeling in my gut, a nervous emptiness that everything wasn't alright. I just couldn't visualize me holding her hand and whispering softly into her ear. I couldn't even picture us together as a normal couple, like we were. Something was going to be different, but I couldn't pin it. The future was on the tip of my tongue; it was so close, but so far. I tried to scrape some of it off with my perfectly white and aligned teeth but all I did was push it farther back.

I remember the call I got from Bianca, I didn't even know she had my number. My head was resting softly on my blue pillow. _Come fast. Out cold. Miranda's evil. Please._ The rest was a blur. The next thing, I was in the hospital, waiting.


	21. Truce

**Truce**

**Annabeth's POV**

I thought I was dead, again. With the hospital's fluorescent lights, anyone could've been fooled. When I woke up, I was in a different room. The new room was smaller but emptier. There was nothing but the springy bed I was sitting on, two plastic chairs, a television that was off, and a pea green curtain surrounding me. A good six inches of the curtain was open, allowing me to see the blank room. My head was pounding and my feet and hands were clammy. They were somehow cold but sweaty. My left arm had a searing pain, I could hardly lift it or flex my muscles in that arm at all. I pulled up the papery hospital gown sleeve up to see a small red dot, the exact size of a dot that a needle would make. I shivered at the thought. I gingerly lifted my other arm and placed my hand on my forehead as the flow of memories socked me in the gut. I felt queasy and unstable, like I was about to pass out.

I hated passing out. I passed out four times in my life. The first time was in seventh grade health when the teacher practically forced us to watch "the miracle of birth". The second time was when Rachel was about to shoot me and I passed out from pure fear. The third time was when the doctors injected me with whatever crap to make me pass out, the injection that gave me the little red dot. The fourth time is coming up right about now. I felt like I was carrying bricks and stones in my stomach. It felt full and empty at the same time. I also felt dizzy, like if I moved to fast or really did anything, I would faint. My head was spinning and everything was coming in and out of focus. My cold hands grabbed the plastic rail of the bed, my knuckles turning white. I tried to take deep breaths and it actually helped. But then I remembered the "miracle of life" video and it was too much. With my tangled blonde hair swiftly swinging forward, my head hit the pillow.

The next thing that I remember was waking up again with a nurse standing over me. "Hello, sweetheart." she whispered soothingly, as if I was a baby she was putting to sleep, "Are you feeling all right? I could get you an ice pack and some tea. Oh, and if you are feeling all right, you have some visitors." My brain creaked as I tried to think of who would possibly want to visit me. Only one name popped up, Percy. "I'm fine." I croaked, not having spoken in hours, "Can I see my visitors, please?" The nurse flipped her straight black hair into a bun and looked at the clipboard next to my bed. She tapped a bunch of words that were blurry to me and stated, "It says here that your doctor wants to see you first. Then, in two hours, you are going to therapy." My jay dropped and my eyes grew wide. My fingers extended then clenched. "I'm sorry," I noted, "but I think you've made a mistake. I'm really okay, I don't need to go to therapy. Someone must have wrote it down wrong."

The nurse tapped her blood red fingernail on the sheet again. "You're Annabeth Chase?" she asked. I slowly nodded and watched as she dragged her finger across the sheet to small text. "Annabeth Chase." she read aloud, "17 years old. Inhaled drugs; noted as an accident by friend, Bianca Di Angelo, and had a minor panic attack for a reason unknown, scheduled for therapy with Doctor Hawthorne at two o'clock on Monday. Holy shit. Therapy. "I'll call the doctor in." The nurse left and five minutes later, a handsome, well dressed man came in. "I'm your doctor, call me Phil." he stated, sitting on the edge of my bed. "Are you feeling okay, dear?" he inquired. I nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm fine, really. I just want to see my visitors." Phil realized quickly enough that I was too tough to be questioned so he sent in my first visitor.

Percy emerged from the door, baggy pants, a blue shirt, messy hair, and those deep green eyes. Adrenaline coursed through me and I stood up and kissed him. His hand slid to my waist and I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Annabeth, I love you." he whispered. I smiled with joy filling my chest. "I love you, too." I told him. "Maybe you should rest." he stated, seating me in my bed. We sat there for a minute, staring into each other's eyes. Then, to my surprise, Thalia walked in. I suddenly became angry and confused, what was she doing here? "Hey." she said. "Hey"? Really? After all the shit she gave me, only a single "hey" was what she had to say. "Annab-", Percy started but I stopped him. "Let Thalia say what she wants to tell me." I spoke in general. Thalia burst into tears blubbering about how she was so sorry and that she never wanted this to happen and something about rumors at school that I was too tired to care about. "Thales, it's okay." I reassured her, "I forgive you and I hope you forgive me. You're my best friend and I don't ever want to fight again." We hugged each other for a minute while Percy awkwardly stood in the corner.

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The rest of my time at the hospital was a blur. The meeting with Dr. Hawthorne was a bust, I basically repeated the events of the day and why I freaked out while he sat and "mmhhhmmm"ed in his stupid chair. He concluded that I was only experiencing "trauma" from my past in a moment of stress and as long I never did drugs again, I wouldn't have to go through this again. Kahpeesh. The whole thing passed like a valedictorian on an SAT. The next thing I knew, Thalia and I were in my room, getting dressed for prom.

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Standing in front of my full-length mirror, I felt absolutely beautiful. With my silky yellow dress and gorgeous flowered heels, I felt unstoppable, like I could have anything I wanted in the entire world. My golden curls were bouncy and my light brown makeup was flawless. (wink,wink) I twirled around in the mirror as Thalia protruded from the bathroom with a black mini-dress and dramatic eye makeup. "Ooh, fabulous." I purred while sorting through my earrings. "Annabeth, I need to tell you something." Thalia sighed, plopping down on my bed. I slipped beside her and said, "You can tell me anything, you know that." She took in a deep breath and began, "I don't know if you ever wondered how I helped you out if I was never a popular person. But, the truth is, I was. I wore pretty shirts, still dark, of course, and had the best boyfriend a girl could ever ask for. His name was Luke Castellan and he was charming and handsome and so sweet. Well, my luck was never good, so three years after we starting dating, he died. He got involved in some really bad shit. He was trying to help out an old lady who was getting mugged by a gang and someone in the gang shot him.

" I remember being in the hospital, waiting for hours before the doctor came out to tell me the bad news. I was so shocked, sad, and depressed. Then, at school, everyone ignored me. I began to wonder if they really liked me for myself and not who I was with. So, I started wearing all black, tuning everyone out, minding my own shit, and being a punk. And that's where you came in, Annabeth. The next three years I was oblivious to everything and you opened my eyes. You make me see the colors of the world, watching you grow from a nerdy girl on the floor to a beautiful person, that's the head of the school. Now, I'm warning you, remember that everyone thinks that you went to a mental hospital and that you are a psycho-freak, but it'll all work out in the end." Well, I guess the last part wasn't as motivational as I would've liked. "Thales," I choked out with tears in my eyes, "I never knew. I'm so sorry about what happened. I-I wish I could've helped." Thalia quickly brushed the forming tears away from her eyes and stood up, "It's fine. It's over. Now let's go to prom."

**A/N: HOLY SHIT. Holy shit. holy shit. I haven't updated in forever. I say this every time but this has been the longest. Do not fret! I will never forget about you guys, your comments are so motivational, I think about new story ideas EVERY DAY. I have so much work now with school and shit so I have been writing like, a paragraph a day. I do have a writing journal that has three new awesome fan fictions that will not be released until my continuing stories are finished. These new ones are planned out better, so there is a good, planned out story line. With this story and "Blossoming" (check it out!) I just write whatever comes to me. Oh, and I have a fan fiction that I wrote when I was in 5****th**** grade. I don't know if anyone would be interested, so if you are, let me know and I will totally publish it! I love you guys so much! Sorry for the shortiness of this chapter, I NEEDED to post. Kisses! **


	22. Prom

_A/N: Before you read: I have a fan fiction that I wrote in 5__th__ grade-I don't know of anyone would want to read it. It's pretty good and really funny because I was funnier when I was younger than I am now __ That's sad, I don't know why I put a smiley. So, tell me, please and enjoy the next drama-filled chapter!_

**Prom**

"_A small piece of Annabeth's heart cracked and crumbled into a million pieces of dust."_

Annabeth Chase somewhat gracefully stepped out of the long black limousine that Thalia had rented. As one long, shaved leg stuck out, the heel of Annabeth's satin shoes caught on the seatbelt and she would have gone tumbling onto the pavement if her trustworthy and loyal boyfriend, Percy Jackson, hadn't caught her by her left arm and waist. His strong hands firmly, yet gently, caught her. He was Annabeth's knight in shining armor. As she gazed into his green eyes that were forever changing, like the sea, the world froze. Now, you hear that in every story with a happy ending, but the world literally stopped. All the students at Goode High froze to stop and stare at Annabeth. "Annabeth Chase is out of the psych ward already?" a blonde junior in a sparkly blue dress whispered to her brunette haired friend who sported a velvety pink mini. Annabeth ripped her eyes from Percy to stare at them. The brunette turned back to her friend and whispered something Annabeth couldn't hear. Both girls laughed hysterically. "C'mon, Annabeth." Percy coaxed her away and led her smoothly out of the limo, "Don't let them ruin the night. Those assholes don't know what's going on." Annabeth nodded at him and kissed him on the cheek as a thank you. She lightly shook her head and arms and linked her arm with Percy's as they walked in together.

"Holy. Shit." Thalia muttered as they entered the gym where the prom was being held. Rainbow streamers draped from the ceiling beams, glitter littered the floor, paintings of a Paris café lined the walls, and a DJ was in the corner, emitting the pounding, modern music that shook the room. Annabeth could feel the pounding _boom, boom, boom_ rattle her bones as she and Percy weaved deeper into the crowd. "This is freaking amazing." Percy stated as he admiringly looked around the room in awe. "Totally, I can't believe it." Annabeth admitted, admiring the snack table that was stocked with French pastries and punches. Over in the corner opposite of the DJ was a photo booth that several couples were lined up at. The night went as smoothly as Annabeth thought possible. Annabeth and Percy took pictures in the photo booth, ate the desserts, drank punch, and danced. It was hilarious watching them dance; they both kept tripping over each other's feet. The one and only problem was the stares and looks Annabeth got. People from all grades, people she knew, people she didn't, even some chaperones gave her looks.

There was the **"ha ha look"**, where they would sneak a glance before smirking and turning away.

There was the **"cautious look"**, where a few people looked at her before giving a nervous glance and shuffling away. Kind of like when a mother covers her baby to protect them from the weird stranger like you see in the movies.

Then, there was the **"blank look"**, where people would just stare with no facial expression at all before walking away backwards, still looking at her, and bumping into others as they did so.

A small piece of Annabeth's heart cracked and crumbled into a million pieces of dust. All that time she spent hanging out and trying too hard to impress people she thought were her friends, it was for absolutely nothing. Nobody really liked her; they were only around her because of her popularity, which was now far from over. The group of freshmen who tagged along with her, gone. The juniors, who looked up at her with pride, were ignoring her. The sophomores her age who used to gaze at her with eyes green with envy, laughing at her. The seniors, who looked down upon her with a knowing expression she didn't quite understand, were right. They all knew what was going to happen. Thalia warned her, she was holding her back because she knew that this could happen, and Jesus Christ, it did. As Annabeth approached the snack table, the swarm of students fled away. She picked up a delicate sugar cookie, frosted with cream and dotted with pink sugar sprinkles, before crushing it with her fist. The thousands of yellow crumbs and specks of sugar crumbled to the floor, along with Annabeth's dignity.

Hot tears welled up in her eyes, blurring the disco lights and happy faces. Annabeth rushed out of the gym, not even trying to conceal her sadness. As she walked down the hallway, smirking faces watched her, she could feel their stares piercing into the back of her head. Annabeth shoved the bathroom door open and burst inside to see the most unpleasant surprise. Drew. "It's _so_ nice for you to join us, Annie-Beth." Drew taunted, "How your prom going? Fun, I hope." Drew turned around to the mirror, slathering blood red lipstick all over her mouth, her reflection quickly looking at her before rubbing her lips together. A girl with fiery red hair emerged from the stall farthest from Annabeth, she had on a tight red dress and high, laced up stilettos. "Is this the girl?" she asked Drew. Drew looked at her and nodded, rolling her eyes. "Do you know what you did to Miranda and Rachel?" the girl practically shouted, "Do you know the pain they both went though because of you?" Annabeth frantically looked around, blinking tears from her eyes, "I-I, no." was all she could manage. "You stole Percy from Rachel, then you killed her!" the girl stated angrily. Annabeth's defense mode kicked in, "Woah! I did not kill Rachel, she tried to shoot me! And Percy didn't even like her!" Annabeth yelled. The girl's hair seemed to be on fire, "Well, what about Miranda, huh? You forced her to do drugs!" she shouted. "Where the fuck are you getting thins from?" Annabeth questioned, "I didn't force her to do drugs, she threatened my friend so I spied on her!"

Drew intervened, "Girls, girls." she interrupted, "Laurie, what did I tell you? One; you can go picking fights and two; that tabloid was incorrect." Laurie was unfazed, "Well then why is Rachael dead and Miranda in rehab?" she inquired. Drew was getting steamed up, she wasn't used to being yelled at by anyone, "Miranda did drugs because she was depressed because another girl stole her boyfriend and Rachel isn't de-" Drew caught herself and nervously glanced at Annabeth. "De-de-deep enough into this link of drama for you to worry about." Drew didn't look like herself, she actually looked nervous. "C'mon Laurie, let's ditch this dump." she said with a final flip of her hair and she was gone. Annabeth shakily walked out of the bathroom a minute after regaining herself. "You did to something to Rachel." someone said, Annabeth turned around, "You hurt her in the worst way anyone could ever be hurt. She'll never be the same." It was a boy. Young, skinny, blue eyes, a freshman, and he just made Annabeth feel like a piece of crap. A person she didn't even know, criticizing her. As she looked back at the hallway leading to the dance, all eyes stared at her, with rude, knowing glares, knowing of something important that Annabeth did not.

Annabeth felt the sudden urge to break down into a ball and cry. She sobbed down an empty hallway, turning her back on her class. Her heels clicked against the fake marble floor, the echoes ringing throughout the emptiness of the hallway, and she sank into an alcove in the wall. A window was nestled in the indent, revealing the stars. Annabeth pulled her knees to her chest and cried for what felt like hours. Heavy footsteps sounded in the hall. Percy emerged from around a corner. He walked over, sat down next to her, and sighed. They sat for a while, respecting the silence except for the distant sound of pounding music. "Wanna go somewhere cool?" Percy asked, "Don't worry it's in the school." Annabeth let Percy help her up and she followed him down many hallways. They ended up at a door that was labeled _Boy's Locker Room_. "Ew. Why here?" Annabeth asked. Percy only smiled and led her in. It smelled like cologne, sweat, and toilet in the locker room. "Is this what you call romantic? I thought you were better than that." she teased. "Oh, just wait." he said before opening the door to the pool. The room was steamy and hot. Annabeth liked it. They sat by the pool, dipping their legs in the water.

"How can you get in here?" Annabeth asked. "Swim captain." was all he needed to say. After a while he asked, "So, are you gonna tell me why you're so upset?" Annabeth told him everything. The whole time he nodded in understanding. "I see," he noted, "You've been through much more than I thought you did. So, why don't you be the girl I love and walk back into prom with me?" They walked out together.

The journey back to the gym was a nightmare for Annabeth. Even though she was scared out of her mind, she held her head up high and kept walking. They entered the gym just in time for a special announcement by the prom committee captain, who was none other than Drew, who apparently didn't leave. "May I have everyone's attention?" she announced in a fake tone with a fake smile, "Thank you." The microphone squealed, "My name is Drew and thank you all for coming tonight, it was a lot of hard work and it was all thanks to our prom committee. This prom is dedicated to Rachel Elizabeth Dare, thank you. We have put together this slideshow in her honor." A million pictures of a happy Rachel danced across the screen. Rachel riding a bike, with Percy, baking a cake, doing homework, hanging with friends, all happy moments from her life. The final picture only showed for a split second. It was of Rachel, tied up, all in white, in a chair, in a white room. Then, Drew got up to the mic again, looked straight at Annabeth and said. "You bitch. You know what you did." Annabeth felt all eyes aim at her. She ran from the room and out the door. She heard Percy calling her name, along with Thalia, and even Grover. She froze on the black top, with no coat. Her arms were wrapped around her body as she hung her head, her back arching in silent sobs. "Annabeth, please." Percy comforted. Annabeth turned to him and said truthfully, "I just need to be alone. Don't follow me." Then, she sprinted all the way home.

**Annabeth's Point of View**

After taking two showers, eating five cookies, and painting my nails purple, I sat in my bed with my laptop. My nails were already chipping from the English homework I had just finished. Everyone else was at prom, having a ball. I honestly didn't give a shit. I needed time alone. There was a nagging question I dared not ask aloud. I didn't want to believe it for a second. I didn't want to know the answer. But, my curiosity took over. I frantically typed in her name on my blue laptop that I has stuck Aztec owls all over. My purple chipping nails rapidly but softly clicked and clacked all over the keyboard. My body was so tense with nerves, my fingers grew stiff and kept hitting the wrong letters. With a shaky breath, I closed my smudged-eyeliner eyes and hit enter. A few seconds later, I slowly uncovered my eyes and looked at the now blinding white screen. My eyes burned at the sight as I read the first result. I tucked a blonde strand of hair behind my ear as I read. My eyed grew wide with realization and I gasped when I finished reading. Rachel Elizabeth Dare wasn't dead.

**A/N: Just take a minute to appreciate that last sentence…mmhmmm. Yes. That took a lot of effort to write. So, I finished this on Wednesday, but my crappy internet wouldn't work. Again. I know, that was confusing, but I promise by next chapter it will all make sense! So, please note that I have a fanfic from 5****th**** grade that I would like to share, but I don't know if anyone is interested. Still no replies… So reply, Godammit and tell me what you thought of this chapter and review!**


	23. I'm Sure

**I'm Sure**

"_I was happy in the saddest way."_

**Bianca's POV**

The day after prom, that was the deadline for Miranda's orders. I tried to convince myself that she was locked away tight in some bouncy white cell, but images of her in my house kept popping up. As I walked down the hallway to the kitchen, I could've sworn I saw a black figure standing behind me. I needed to get outside. Without a coat, I walked outside and ran to the nearest bus stop. I waited alone until the monstrous bus squealed to a stop in front of me. With my cashmere sweater, ivory knitted beret, and skinny blue jeans, I shoved my hands in my pockets and hopped on, dropping three quarters into the scruffy driver's hand as I boarded. I looked out the window in sorrow. My life felt like it was at its worst point in almost forever. No amount of good friends could change that. Friends can always betray you, or spill a secret to someone else. I had never been anywhere long enough to make a best friend. I never knew the joys of having someone to fully trust in. I should've never told anyone about my baby. It should've been a secret for only me and my teddy bear's ears to know. But I ruined it.

I pressed my head against the cool, foggy window and exhaled. When I opened my eyes, we weren't moving, but we also weren't at the library. Cars were lined up in front of us, miles and miles of them. I sighed, knowing it would be a while since we started moving. I gazed out the window at a nearby park. A woman wearing a big coat was frowning on a bench. She reminded me of myself. Then, a little girl in a pink coat and yellow leggings bounded over and gave her the warmest hug I'd ever seen. "I love you, mommy." I read her lips. The woman's eyes suddenly lit up and she began to smile as she hugged her daughter back. A nostalgic smile crept up on my lips and my throat became sore. A single tear fell from my eye and slid down my cheek. I was happy in the saddest way. I knew what I wanted from that point on, I wanted my baby back.

As soon as the bus stopped in front of the library, I bounded from the bus, across the busy street, the wind whipping my hair back. I panted as I zipped through the aisles of books to a computer. Sitting down, the chair beneath me spun. People around me looked at me with unease. I straightened myself as I opened Google. I typed in, "Miss Judy's Fosters". Surely, the option came up and I scrawled the phone number down on a nearby sheet of paper. With the number in my hand I sprinted from the library and almost collided with the payphone across the street. I quickly placed a quarter in the machine and dialed the number. The phone only rang twice before someone picked up, "Miss Judy's Foster Home Care, how may I assist you?" the secretary announced.

"Hello. I'm Bianca di Angelo. I put a three day old baby up for adoption about a year ago, I was wondering if she was still there?"

"Hold on, Hon, let me check."

There was some rustling of paper and opening of drawers before the woman came back to the phone. I twirled my hair nervously.

"Here we, go. The baby matches your description. Can you tell me what you look like?"

"Uh, olive skin, dark brown hair, and brown eyes."

"Well, this must be your baby, dear."

"Thank you so much! When can I pick her up? Was she named yet?"

"You're very welcome, dear. You can come as soon as possible to come get her. You'll need your social security code and you will need to fill out a lot of paperwork. Oh, and right now she is being called Allison."

"I'll be there as soon as I can!"

With joyous tears streaming down my face I got on the next bus. "To Portland." I told the driver, handing him more coins. "Well, little lady, sure you can handle the drive?" he asked. I smiled wide and said confidently, "I can handle anything." I sat in the middle of the bus, making sure I was next to a window. As the changing landscapes flashed before me, I became more and more eager to get my baby. I must've fell asleep because I opened my eyes and the bus was in front of the Portland sign. "Thank you." I said to the driver. "Good luck." he stated before closing the door. According to the map, the orphanage was a half a mile away from where I was. I could even see the building. I ran the whole way, my hair flying back, gold converse zipping across the pavement, my thighs burned, and my lungs ached for a normal breath, but not once, did I stop. I accidentally ran into a pedestrian walking a dog and almost ended up hugging a telephone pole, but I still kept going. The sky was an unnaturally bright blue and the geese waded along grassy areas. When I got to the dismal building, I yanked the door open and put both hands on the front desk. "I'm Bianca." I announced and the woman smiled and tried to hide her astonishment. She obviously thought I was going to be a little older. "One moment." she chided and walked into another room. Two agonizing minutes later, she returned with a baby that looked so beautiful I fell to my knees. "My baby." I cried, holding my hands out. Little Allison was gently placed in my arms.

She looked almost exactly like me, except for the ears which had to be her father's. "She's so beautiful." I breathed.

"And she's all yours." the woman told me, "Here is some paperwork you have to fill out." I was handed a stack of papers held together by a weak paperclip. As I filled out the work, Allison rested in the crook of my arm, slightly jiggling from my writing. I lied that I was eighteen with a stable household. I doubted she would look me up to make sure, she knew how happy I was. After twenty minutes of lies and a sore hand later, I was walking Allison out the door, with a crème folder with her birth certificate and other classified papers. I only had enough coins to make it to the town over from mine, so I figured I would just walk the rest of the way. I climbed on the bus and told the driver where to take me as I sat in the back corner of the bus. As I looked around, I never realized how beautiful everything was. The setting sun cast a ray of reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks across the sky, the lake nearby was glistening and rippling lightly, and even the swirly, blue, chipping, metal designs on the bus were so pretty. But, my Allison was prettier by far. As the sky darkened, I began to think about what I would tell my parents, where I would go, how I would make my money. I couldn't just leave out of the blue; my face would soon be plastered on a missing sign on a milk carton.

The first person I wanted to tell was Annabeth, it would be a good practice for telling my parents and she deserved to know. Allison was asleep in my arms before we got thirty minutes and, soon, I fell asleep, too. I woke up to the driver saying, "Miss. Miss?" in my ear to wake me up. I staggered off the bus and sat on a nearby park bench. Allison was already a perfect name for her, her chocolate eyes were hidden beneath her eyelids, dark hair was tufted on her head, and her olive skin seemed to glow in the moon light. Crickets chirped in the background and the night was unusually warm. I let out a deep breath of relief. I had done what was right, but, now what?

I walked over through the town, luckily, Annabeth's house and mine were on the edge of our town, so the journey wasn't too long. It took about forty – five minutes winding through the streets before I ended up at Annabeth's. Her house was grand, the shrubs perfectly aligned, the walkways stoned were placed in a miss-matched, yet, simple order, and the green of her house radiated confidence, even though it was a house. It had to be at least ten o'clock. With my last bit of adrenaline, I rang the bell. Luckily, Annabeth answered. "Bianca!" she sputtered, "What are you doing here?" She had on a tight yellow tank top and blue fuzzy short shorts. Her hair was in a high pony tail and her face had on a disbelieving look. "Uhm, hi." I breathed, "I need to tell you about this. I have just been so lonely and sad lately, I needed someone. You've been an awesome friend, but I needed something more. I saw how happy mothers were, and I realized. I wanted my baby. It was a calling. I know what I'm doing, it's the right thing. Can you accept that?" Annabeth took everything in for a couple seconds, my clothes, Allison, the words. "Of course I can." she answered, "But, Bianca, are you sure you can do this? What about school and your life?"

"I've never been more sure about anything in my whole life. School isn't that important to me right now, this is my new life. I'm starting over for the last time, and I think I'm going to like it this time."

"What are you going to tell your parents?"

"I don't know yet. They'll make me put her up for adoption and hate me for not telling them."

"What about writing them a note?"

"That's a great idea! Thanks for everything, Annabeth."

"Please, don't go, where will you stay? I'm only concerned.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'll find somewhere."

"Will I see you again, I mean, you're not leaving forever, are you?"

"No, I'll visit again. Soon. Don't worry."

I started walking down the path, in confident steps.

"Wait!"

I turned around to see Annabeth standing on the first step.

"Yeah?"

"One more question before you go, what's her name?"

"Allison."

"Allison, it's beautiful. And if you ever need anything, I'm here."

"Thanks for everything, Annabeth."

And with that, I walked down the walkway and to my house. On the porch, I took out the crumbled sheet of paper with Miss Judy's Fosters number on it and picked up a soggy pen from the grass. Allison woke up and grabbed at the pen. I smiled at her and began writing.

_Dear Mom, Dad, and Nico,_

_I know you still think I'm a baby, but now I have my own. I'm going to Philadelphia to care for her. Thank you, Nico, for keeping my secret. Her name is Allison Annabeth di Angelo. She's eight months old with chocolate eyes and dark brown hair. Don't be mad at Nico for not telling you, and please, take care of him. I know this is hard, but I'll be fine and in touch. When I get enough money to support myself and Allison, I promise I will visit, it just might not be for a long time. Thank you all for loving me and caring for me. I love you all._

_With Love,_

_Bianca_

A silent tear slid down my face. I would miss everyone I met here, and my family, who I've lived with all my life. But, I never realized that a big piece was already missing inside of me, and now, it was full. I quietly crept inside and slipped the note on the table before entering my room. I rested Allison on the bed. I grabbed two of my suitcases and quickly but quietly packed all my clothes, which wasn't a lot. I made sure to bring pens and paper, stamps, pictures, my journal, hand lotion, sunscreen, a pillow and two blankets in another suitcase. I grabbed all my money out of the jar in my empty closet that I was saving for a day like this. Allison squirmed on my bed and I kissed her to slow her down. As I was carrying my bags and Allison out of my room, I spotted my fish. I quickly grabbed him and stuffed him in a bag. Thank gosh I had bought the sealed tank, which prevented the water from spilling. I silently slipped down the hall and standing in front of the door, I stopped. I took everything in, I was actually leaving, not forever, but for a long time. I took in the beauty of the house and whispered quietly, before leaving on a bus to Philadelphia, "Goodbye."

_This chapter is dedicated to all girls and boys who have found the strength to live the way they want._

**A/N: Holy, 2,195 words, Batman! Now, you're probably wondering if Bianca will be written about again. I will only write more about her if you want me to, so PM me or review what you want! Also, I have a poll on my profile, so check that out! And, still, please, tell me if you want that other fanfic from when I was younger, it's pretty good, but I don't want to type it up and have no one read it! Even if you're a guest, just tell me! Oh, and by the way, smiley faces and hearts don't come up on the website, so if I sound retarded, talking about an invisible smiley, you know what's up.**


	24. Trouble

**Trouble**

**Annabeth's POV**

I walked away from the door in a trance. My gray eyes were round and wide and my mouth slightly wavered open and shut. My arms hung limply at my sides as I thought to myself, "What the fuck just happened?" Sure, I was happy for Bianca, but she was just too young, only turning 16 in a few months, to be caring for a baby. I couldn't imagine her happy. When I tried to imagine her living in a silent stone cottage with Allison in the crook of her arm, holding a book in her lap, the image was quickly replaced with a thousand things that could go wrong on her journey. I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind as I walked back to my bedroom. I was quickly reminded of the last time I had been on my lap top. I had buried it under my bed and in the midst of a pile of crumpled blankets to avoid going back on to the open tab that I had just been looking at a day before. I tried to busy myself with work and reading, but the urge to open it came back.

I stood, frozen in my doorframe, silently debating whether I should go back on the computer until I lunged under the bed before I changed my mind. I hopped onto my bed and closed my eyes as I slowly opened the top. Behind my closed eyes I felt the screen light up as red spots swarmed in front of me. I opened my eyes to the familiar tab. I had searched, "Rachel Elizabeth Dare-Goode High." The black words were still burning into the back of my skull. I read the line again, it said:

**RACHEL ELIZABETH DARE**

RICHARD DARWIN'S INSANE ASYLUM, ADMITTED SEVERAL WEEKS AGO, ATTENDED **GOODE HIGH.**

I knew it the whole time. I knew Rachel wasn't gone. I knew it but I didn't do anything about it. I should've thought more into it, I never should've believed everyone, and I should've investigated the whole thing more than I did. I could've, I should've, but I didn't. I didn't and I was paying the price. I wondered how many people knew. How many people had been lying to me? I needed to leave. If Rachel got out, she would surely kill me the first chance she got. But where would I go? I couldn't leave Percy. I slid off my bed and jumped into the chair at my desk. I quickly pulled out a fresh piece of paper from the bottom drawer and whipped out a black pen. I didn't want to leave, I needed something to stop me. I wrote sloppy and fast.

_This contract hereby states that Annabeth Chase cannot leave the state for purposes such as; running away, sleeping over someone else's house to escape, or anything involved in leaving from fear that Rachel Elizabeth Dare will harm her in any way, before graduation. If she does leave she will be pronounced a chicken and will live with the pain of being a wimp daily._

_X__

I re-read my contract over and before changing my mind, scrawled my name at the bottom in black ink. I stared at the paper. I did it. I tacked the paper on my bulletin board across from my bed and crawled into bed, sleeping soundlessly for the first time in days.

**Miranda's POV**

The buff men in their white coats ruthlessly dragged me by both arms across the wooden, shiny hallway. I hadn't stopped screaming and thrashing since they took hold of me, hoping they would drop me so I could run. No luck. Their hands grasped me like metal, forever frozen in the same position. When they dropped me off in my new room the night before I didn't dare sleep, I bashed the walls with my fists and screamed the whole night before a nurse came in and gave me a shot that made me fall asleep. My piercing screams echoed throughout the empty hall. "It'll be good for you to see people your age." the man to my left stated in a deep and husky voice, "You need to socialize." I jabbed my right arm out and in and tried to trip the men. "Get the fuck off me! I don't need to do anything but go home!" I grunted as I strained to break free. "Hey, maybe you'll see someone you know." the other guy told me as he yanked me forward. "You're a funny fucker. Now let me go!" I yelled. He let out an annoyed sigh and the other one grunted in annoyance. We slowly approached a big, white, padlocked door. "Here we are. Try to make some friends and don't cause the person in charge too much trouble." The right guy demanded before shoving me through the door. The door had opened so fast, I didn't have a chance to resist being pushed in. I stumbled to the floor and heard the door close with a click. My stringy brown hair was sprawled out in front of me and draped in front of my face as I looked up. Everyone was staring at me.

I awkwardly stood and brushed myself off as I took a deep breath. "What?" I growled to the audience. The pale teenagers with dark circles under their eyes and out-of-date clothes resumed what they were doing, all but one. She didn't move, her pale blue eyes staring at me, her frizzy red hair framing her face, her mouth in an "o". She had on a ratty _ACDC_ tee and ripped stonewashed jeans. "Miranda." she whispered as she walked up to me. "Rachel?" I whispered back, confused, "What, where? I thought you were dead. Everyone thinks you're dead. You're not dead?" I awkwardly touched her arm in reassurance. A weak smile appeared on her lips and she told me, "No. I'm not dead. The doctors told me that everyone thinks I am, though. They're almost sure that I'm never getting out of here. What happened to you?" I reluctantly told her about my addiction and how Annabeth was spying on me. At first, she looked horrified, but that look slowly twisted into a mischievous one. "That means you hate Annabeth, too." she confirmed. A hot pit of rage boiled in my stomach as I responded, "More than anything." Rachel walked in a circle around me. "Good." she chirped, "Then we both can get out of this shit hole and get revenge. But, in order to do that, we need to be good. We need to be the nicest, sweetest, most innocent people in the whole hospital. If we succeed, we will be let out and then we can both kill Annabeth Chase. Are you with me?" She stopped circling me and held out her hand, ready for an agreement shake. I evilly smiled and took her hand, giving it a big, single shake. "We have ourselves a deal."

**Annabeth's POV**

I woke up to the sound of my cell phone. The classic AT&T tone jingled from my dresser. I checked the screen, it was Percy. I tapped the receive button and pressed the phone to my ear. "Hello, sexy." I sang as I swung my legs off the bed. "What's up?" I glanced at my digital neon clock. It was nine o'clock at night. I had slept through the day, thank God I was home alone or I would be in trouble for sleeping so long. My dad and Kristen had taken Bobby and Matthew out to the golf course for the day and were sleeping at aunt Bullshit's. "Nothing much." Percy replied, "Just thinking about you. We haven't been together for a while." I knew what he was trying to say, even though he hadn't said it. He wanted to make out with me, that horny ass. But, that horny ass was my boyfriend, and I wanted to make out with him, too. So, I invited him over. While I waited, I put on my prettiest bra and underwear under my pajamas. Just in case. *Wink, wink* I flat-ironed my hair while I waited. When the doorbell rang, I flicked the flat iron off and slid in my socks to the door. I opened it and got hit in the face with cold air. Percy walked in. "Hey, beautiful." he droned, kissing me. I dragged him into my bedroom and we both sat on my bed. Sitting in my green bedroom with an empty house alone with Percy was too much for me to handle. From the opposite side of my small bed, I could smell his salty radiance and feel the energy coming off him. I scooted across my flowered bedspread, moving closer. Luckily, he pulled me onto his lap and pressed his lips to mine. I pressed my chest closer to his and we fell over so we were both lying on the bed. He gently ran his fingers though my straightened hair and kissed me harder. I wrapped my legs around him and pulled the covers over us. I felt his gentle hands pull my shirt off and his shirt came off shortly after. The rest was a blur of bliss.

When I woke up the next morning, I was squished against Percy, who was snoring. Sun peeked through the curtains and nearly blinded me. I shielded my face and nudged Percy awake. "Murf?" he grunted as he sat up, "Oh, hey. Good morning." I was slightly confused and my brain wasn't fully functioning yet so I blindly asked him, "Percy, did we have sex?" He thought for a minute before responding, "Nope. We came pretty close, though." I sighed with relief. Being pregnant was one of the last things I wanted to be. "Good." I stated. I pulled my shirt back over my head and he put his shirt back on too. Tying my hair in a ponytail, I led Percy into the kitchen, where we ate Lucky Charms and drank English Breakfast Tea, which I introduced to Percy. I didn't even think of my family before they walked in the front door Percy and I were talking about school in the kitchen. My dad looked shocked to see Percy. "Oh, hello Percy." he greeted. "Hello, Mr. Chase." Percy responded, like a good boyfriend, "Good morning. Annabeth and I were just hanging out. I'd better get going." he quickly shuffled out of the house. "Annabeth," Kristen cleared her throat as she entered, "Did we say you could have anyone over?" I was shocked, it was only Percy. "Um, no. But it's only Percy. It's not like I invited some stranger into the house."

"Still, we didn't say you could have friends over."

"Okay, sorry. It won't happen again."

My dad butted in, "Kristen, it's okay."

"No, it's not. You're grounded."

I was taken off guard. "_Grounded_? I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Kristen, we don't need to do this." My dad tried to help as I stood in shock.

"You don't know how to punish and take control. She needs to learn her lesson."

"But we never told her she couldn't have anyone over."

"Well, she should've used her common sense."

I'd had it. I stormed to my room and threw my jeans and a sweater on. I jammed my feet into my _Uggs_ and zipped my hoodie up as I listened to my parents argue. Shoving my phone and a five dollar bill into my pocket, I opened the window and jumped onto the nearest tree branch, where I swung down and gently landed on the dewy grass. As I hopped on my bike, I planned to ride to a coffee shop in the next town over. My contract only stated that I couldn't leave town in fear of Rachel. I wasn't afraid.


	25. Sweet as Revenge

**Sweet as Revenge**

**Rachael's POV**

Miranda and I had been good. Maybe even a little too good because suspicions were arising between counselors and psychiatrists. "It's just out of the blue." I overheard one of them say, "Especially for Miranda, she was a mess when she first started out, Rachael too. Should we keep them in?" Another person spoke up, "If we don't their parents will have noticed the improvement and will take them out instead. Plus, they trust us." It had been five long months since we began our act, and it was a hell of a good time. Acting like angels to all who suspected us to be evil, little did they know it was all an act. We randomly cried, pretending to remember the horrible things we did and exclaimed about how bad we felt about it, being nice to the "Satan Worshippers" who honestly scared the crap out of me, and even helping with chores around the asylum. And on the most beautiful Tuesday in all of mankind, we were let out. Freedom was absolutely magnificent!

My parents were so proud at "how I'd changed so much" and they let me redecorate my bedroom. I pretended to be so very thankful and soon enough, I was let out of the house to roam. I flipped my flat ironed hair over my shoulder to see a familiar girl. She was riding her bike down the street, looking mad and aggravated, pumping the pedals as fast as they would go. I opened my phone and speed dialed Miranda. "Code R." I said into the phone. I could sense Miranda smirking as I put the phone back in my pocket. I smiled. This day was going to be great.

**Annabeth's POV**

I had been fighting with my parents a lot. Almost every day I would be slamming my door, blasting music, and sneaking out the window. For five months it was like that. I was on my bike and off, going to different towns and even states. Well, states only once. Anyway, I was pissed at my step mom for trying to ground me once again. This time, it was for going over to Katie's house after school for two hours to study and not telling her. Hello? I have a freaking cell phone. She could've called me in five seconds. I did my routine of swinging down the tree onto the grass and pedaling away on my bike. I flew through blocks until I landed in an unfamiliar area. There were alleys everywhere and graffiti littered the walls. Empty soda cans laid crumpled at my feet, empty wrappers were everywhere. I didn't know how far away I was or how long I'd been riding. I quickly learned that hours can feel like minutes when I rode so I wasn't too shocked to find that I had been gone for almost three hours.

The sun was setting and it was getting dark. Fast. I swung my legs over on the seat of my bike when I felt a cold hand grasp my shoulder. I sat, frozen, my mouth open wide. My back tingled and a light breeze blew through my hair. I gulped and slowly turned. I was staring straight at Rachael. "Annabeth. It's been awhile. How are you, dear? Good, I hope." she taunted. I was too scared to move. My lip trembled as she circled me, brushing her dry hand around my shoulders. "I haven't been good at all, though. I'm sure you know why. And because of that, you might need a little reminder of what it means to be not good. Miranda and I here are going to teach you a little something about being a nice person." Miranda stepped into my view and I let out a squeal. "Don't be scared, it won't hurt that much." Miranda promised. My eyes darted to a sleek gun that Rachael was now holding.

"Goodbye, Annabeth Chase." she smiled, pointing the gun at me. The too familiar bang of gunshot rang in my ear and I looked at my foot. The bullet had missed my nearly an inch. I pedaled away as fast as my legs would take me. My throat was burning and dry and my legs were sore with exhaustion. I didn't dare look back as I sped through the tight alleys. My front tire hit a rock and I fell from my bike, rolling in the dirt. I crawled under a box and called Percy. The phone picked up after three rings. "Hello?" he asked. "Percy, I need your help." I begged.

"Well, that's a first. What's up?"

"Come to Reagan Town. Now. Bring the police." I read off of a billboard.

"What's going on? Are you okay?"

"No time to explain. I love you."

I hung up the phone as footsteps crunched to my right. "She couldn't have gone far. Her bike's right here." I heard Miranda growl. I accidentally whimpered and I was soon yanked out of my hiding spot. Rachael slammed me against the bricks. "Don't run. We'll always find you." Her sharp knee dug into my back and I tried to scream. "Aww, you're cute. Now hold still, we won't kill you right away." A blade flashed in front of me and I cried with pain as my chin started to bleed. She turned me around so my back was to the wall and pushed the knife against my throat. "I'm sure you feel real bad about stealing Percy away from me now, and taking both of our lives away. With the record of us being in an insane asylum, we'll never have normal lives again." I ground my teeth and spat, "Percy kissed _me_. I didn't even like him at the time. You're just a jealous bitch. He never liked you." She pushed me harder against the wall and screamed, "YOU LIAR! SHUT UP!" My head banged against the wall and I tried to ignore the dizzying spin in my head. "Get off!" I shouted, pushing her. She landed against the pavement with a crack.

I froze and blinked. Blood poured out from under her head. She wasn't moving. I was about to help her, with my natural instincts, when I realized that Miranda was still there. "Now the damage you've done is beyond repair. This is what you deserve you slutty fuck-off." Miranda aimed the gun at me and closed one eye. "Goodbye forever, Annabeth Chase. I'm sure _no one_ will miss you." The last thing I saw was the sparkle in her berry lip gloss and the shining stars before the known bang of gunshot sounded and I blacked out.

**Percy's POV**

I ran up to the sticky caution tape, panting. Red and blue lights danced across everyone's faces. Police lined the scene, and innocent bystanders looked by in curiosity. A grim cop held a sheet in front of Rachael, who was carried away on a gurney, hiding her bloody body from view. Miranda was screaming murder as she was jammed against the wall by police, handcuffs forced on her wrists. She was shoved in the police car and her screaming was muffled. I was confused, weren't they both in a mental hospital? Annabeth was nowhere in sight. "I'm gonna have to ask you all to go about your business." a cop announced. All the rubber-neckers left but I stayed. "Do we have a problem, young man?" He addressed me. "Uh, yeah." I picked my words carefully, "My girlfriend was in there." He didn't show any sympathy. "Sob. Now, I'll promise you that she's in good hands, you have to leave." I tried to protest but I was given a shove that pushed me into a cop that escorted me out. "They're crazy!" I shouted back at the scene, "Miranda and Rachael are insane!" I don't think anybody listened.

**Annabeth's POV**

I'd been shot, in my right leg, just above my knee. I was ironically in the hospital again. I was getting sick of the atmosphere of the hospital, it rarely changed. I was kept in bed for four months, getting to walk only around my floor. Percy came every day and stayed with me. It was over almost as soon as it began. I was back in my bedroom, lying on my bed with Percy, looking at the ceiling. "So, it's not over, is it?" I finally said, ignoring the tingling above my knee, "When I go back to school for senior year, I'm going to have to live with everything that happened." I could tell that Percy wanted to protest, but he couldn't. Life would be hard. "I don't ever want to go back." I complained, "I wish we both could just pick up and move to Alaska!" Percy smiled and turned his head to me, "Why Alaska?" he inquired. I brushed my hair out of my eyes and puffed, "It's far away from here." My eyes followed a blade of the ceiling fan as it rotated around the center. My shorts and tight blue tank top couldn't keep me cool enough on a hot August day, August thirty first, only three more days until school.

"The year won't be long." Percy convinced me, "I'm sure of it. All we have to do it make it until graduation." I nodded and smiled even though I didn't agree with him. "Just until graduation…" I muttered, even though I didn't believe it.

I rolled my shoulders back and adjusted the strap on my Vera Bradley tote bag. The bright green leaves flutters like a thousand butterflies in the light breeze. All around me, people were laughing and hugging, catching up from the summer. I stayed hidden in the shadows along the cold brick of the school. Even Percy was hanging out with his friends. I was alone. Thalia was on to college and everyone else, but Percy, thought I was a freak. I didn't feel any safer knowing that Rachael and Miranda were locked away in some insane asylum in Ohio. It only felt empty without them here. I even saw a sophomore ask a junior where Miranda was, I shivered and wondered why no one told the students what happened. The school board was keeping the news low because they didn't want any more trouble. The breeze picked up my curly hair and I stumbled, trying to get it out of my face. When my vision cleared, I was standing in the sunlight, and everyone, including teachers, was looking at me. When I say everyone froze, everyone froze. It was as if I took a remote and paused the scene. Basketballs rolled and texting thumbs froze in mid-text. All eyes were glued on me.

The scar on my thigh tingled and I stood up a little straighter. With effort, I confidently strode right into the building, pushing the double doors open as I entered, I felt eyes burning into my back. When I got inside I slipped into the girls' room and cautiously looked around. There were only freshman, most likely never have heard of me, applying the make-up their mothers didn't let them put on. I walked into an empty stall and took deep breaths. I dropped the old backpack I found in the back of my closet and reached in one of the pockets, searching for my phone. My hands grasped something small and smooth. I pulled out a Lip Smackers. It was a thin mint cookie balm that I got when I was twelve. I used to wear it all the time, impressing no one but me. I opened the tube with a pop and glazed my lips with the sweet gloss. I rubbed my shiny lips together and walked out of the stall. I searched for my locker when I came across Drew. _Oh shit._ I thought as I decided whether to say hi or run.

"We meet again, Annie Beth." she sighed. I knew that she knew my name was Annabeth. She knew I loathed being called Annie Beth. "Drew." I huffed. I _so_ did not want to deal with her.

"I see you've up-ed your wardrobe yet again." she stated sarcastically, glancing at my ripped shorts and polka-dot tank. She thought she was so cool with her designer and brand-name shorts and tank top.

"Nice of you to notice." I snarled. _God dammit, leave already!_ I thought.

"Well, it's good to have everybody back where they belong, you, particularly, in the lower class. I'm glad you stopped trying to be popular, the real popular people were getting tired of your sad attempts."

"Okay!" I shouted, "I get it! I'm a nerd! I shop at Target. I watch cartoons. I have Lord of the Rings posters in my closet. I eat junk food and own three SpongeBob underwear and bra sets and I wear them to school! But I like myself this way, you perfectionist asshole. See, I didn't even call you a bitch because I'm the bitch!"

I angrily turned around to leave and banged into a locker. "I'm back." I smiled as I stumbled down the hallway. Percy jogged up behind me and walked in sync with me. "That was totally awesome!" he celebrated, "That's why I love you." he whispered and pulled me into a kiss. I stood on my toes to reach his lips, my converse stretching as I put my arms around his neck. It was awesome until a teacher walked by and snapped, "No PDA in the hallways," We broke apart and held hands as we walked down the hallway. The year went by great. My grades were up again and I was arguing with my parents less and less. People in school ignored me, which was fine by me. I made some friends from some other schools, friends that were clueless to my past. Me and Percy were stronger than ever, and we spent as much time together as possible.

~Graduation~

I sat in my stuffy robe and tried to fan my face. The valedictorian's speech was longer than the principals and everyone, even his parents, were getting bored. Eventually, we were all called up to get out diplomas and as I stood on stage, I saw someone familiar. Bianca. She was in the back, with Alison, who was almost a year old. She was waving frantically and I waved back. My name was called and I took the thick paper and shook the hand of the principal and several other board members. I stepped down and tripped on my robe. Instead of being embarrassed, I started laughing and smiled through the rest of the ceremony. Bianca told me that she was doing well and she hadn't run into trouble yet, which was good. I just hope she didn't jinx herself.

Percy and I got accepted into the same college, by miracle. We pretty much lived happily ever after. But, you'd think that's where it ends. But it doesn't. The lying, the taunting, the secrets, they're all floating around, drifting. Waiting for the perfect moment to swarm down and begin the cycle all over again.

The End.

**Author's Note: Oh, it's not over. It may be the last chapter, but the story continues. Keep watch for Bianca's own series, and maybe more to Percabeth's.**


	26. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Years have passes, and Percy and Annabeth Jackson are happily living in their small house by the ocean. Twenty-eight years old and looking down upon their new baby girl, Jane Athena. They picked the name Jane because it was an innocent name, a happy, cute, little girl name. Athena because Annabeth noted that she was a strong and wise goddess that had great strategy and battle plans. The sound of the waves crashing gently along the powdery sand soothed the baby as she slept. But somewhere, two girls wanted to kill Annabeth. They sat and waited for years, dreaming of some day being let out so they can murder the girl who supposedly ruined their lives. In Percy and Annabeth's quiet house, the television suddenly broke out into a news story about a two girls breaking out of an insane asylum, they showed pictures of the escapees and Annabeth and Percy held their breaths, knowing that nothing was quite over yet.

The End?


End file.
